Foreign tourist arrivals pick up, but still a long way behind 2019 levels

Govt spells out two-pronged strategy to improve numbers; but industry warns of low interest in India

Foreign tourist arrivals are growing month-on-month with the resumption of scheduled international flights in March-end and easing of Covid-19 test regulations in February. However, the numbers are still a fair distance behind 2019 levels.

Over 423,000 tourists arrived in May, which was a 7.8 per cent rise on a month-on-month basis. The number of foreign tourists visiting in April and March was 392,930 and 342,308, respectively, according to data available with the tourism ministry.

The US, Bangladesh, the UK, Australia, and Canada were the top five source markets for tourist arrivals in the January-May period, accounting for nearly 65 per