New Delhi: India’s foreign tourist visits in 2024 remain far short of pre-pandemic levels, leaving a nearly 10-million-visitor gap that the country is yet to bridge.

Data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the 10th edition of Handbook of Statistics on Indian States, 2024-25 on state-wise tourist flows shows that foreign tourist visits stood at 2.09 crore in 2024, far below the 3.14 crore recorded in 2019, the last full year before Covid-19, highlighting international tourism is yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels.

As many as 26 states and Union Territories (UTs) attracted fewer foreign tourists in 2024 compared to 2019. Even compared to 2023, 11 states saw a decline in foreign tourist inflow, including major tourist destination states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh

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