Forex earnings from tourism in India rising despite dip in tourist inflow

Foreign exchange earnings reaching pre-pandemic levels

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India are inching towards the pre-pandemic levels, although the country is yet to record similar highs in the number of visiting tourists.

The latest data for October 2023, released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), shows that the number of foreign tourists arriving in India has shrunk by 14.1 per cent compared to October 2019 when there were 0.9 million visitors.

While still below the pre-Covid levels, tourism foreign exchange earnings continue to climb, reaching $2.3 billion in October 2023, compared to $2.5 billion in October 2019 (chart 1). In the last