The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions saw the foreign tourist arrivals in India dip by 44.5% in 2021.
While in 2020, 2.74 million foreign tourists had visited India, in 2021, the number was 1.52 million.
The arrival of NRIs, however, are increased by 52.6% in 2021 compared to 2020.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals during 2019 was 10.93 million.
In 2021, the top 15 countries from which foreign tourists arrived in India included the U.S., the U.K., Bangladesh, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan and Australia.
These nations accounted for nearly 81% of foreign tourist arrivals in India last year.
Air travel was the most favoured mode of travel for foreign tourists with 87.5% opting for it.
The number of Indian nationals departing the country saw a rise in 2021 as compared to 2020.
In 2021, 8.55 million Indian nationals departed the country as compared to 7.29 million in 2020 — a 7.3% increase.
The UAE was the top destination for Indians in 2021, followed by the U.S., Qatar, Oman and the U.K.
Domestic tourism in India saw a minor revival with an increase of 11.05%.
In 2020, the number of domestic tourists was 610.22 million, in 2021 it was 677.33 million.
The vice president of India Jagdeep Dhankar also gave away the National Tourism Awards for 2018-19 with Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Telangana getting the top places.