Tourism in India
India recorded a total of 17 million tourists in 2018, ranking 23rd in the world in absolute terms.The fact that larger countries regularly perform better in a comparison of the absolute number of guests is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of India, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.013 tourists per resident, India ranked 187th in the world. In South Asia, it ranked 6th.
India generated around 29.14 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 1.0 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 73 percent of all international tourism receipts in South Asia.
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Most popular destinations in India
No less than 7 cities in India are among the top 100 most popular destinations worldwide. In 2018 Delhi reached the 11th place with 12.65 million tourists. According to Euromonitor all tourists with at least one overnight stay were counted.| City | Tourists | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 12,645,300 | #11 |
| Mumbai | 10,590,100 | #14 |
| Agra | 8,138,200 | #26 |
| Chennai | 6,422,800 | #36 |
| Jaipur | 6,383,400 | #39 |
| Kalkutta | 2,826,500 | #76 |
| Bangalore | 2,239,200 | #100 |
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2018 spent about 1,494 US Dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of India spend only around 876 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in India from 1995 to 2018
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in India each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 8 countries in South Asia.
Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 2.58 billion USD, or about 0.72 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 2.12 million tourists at that time and roughly 1,216 USD per person. Within 23 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased noticeably. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 29.14 billion USD, accounting for 1.1 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 1,673 USD for his holiday in India.
All data for India in detail
| Year | Number of tourists | Receipts | % of GNP | Receipts per tourist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2.12 m | 2.58 bn $ | 0.72 % | 1,216 $ |
| 1996 | 2.29 m | 2.83 bn $ | 0.72 % | 1,237 $ |
| 1997 | 2.37 m | 2.89 bn $ | 0.69 % | 1,217 $ |
| 1998 | 2.36 m | 2.95 bn $ | 0.70 % | 1,250 $ |
| 1999 | 2.48 m | 3.01 bn $ | 0.66 % | 1,213 $ |
| 2000 | 2.65 m | 3.60 bn $ | 0.77 % | 1,358 $ |
| 2001 | 2.54 m | 3.34 bn $ | 0.69 % | 1,317 $ |
| 2002 | 2.38 m | 3.30 bn $ | 0.64 % | 1,384 $ |
| 2003 | 2.73 m | 4.56 bn $ | 0.75 % | 1,673 $ |
| 2004 | 3.46 m | 6.31 bn $ | 0.89 % | 1,824 $ |
| 2005 | 3.92 m | 7.66 bn $ | 0.93 % | 1,954 $ |
| 2006 | 4.45 m | 8.92 bn $ | 0.95 % | 2,005 $ |
| 2007 | 5.08 m | 11.23 bn $ | 0.92 % | 2,211 $ |
| 2008 | 5.28 m | 12.46 bn $ | 1.0 % | 2,359 $ |
| 2009 | 5.17 m | 11.14 bn $ | 0.83 % | 2,155 $ |
| 2010 | 5.78 m | 14.49 bn $ | 0.86 % | 2,509 $ |
| 2011 | 6.31 m | 17.71 bn $ | 0.97 % | 2,807 $ |
| 2012 | 6.58 m | 18.34 bn $ | 1.0 % | 2,788 $ |
| 2013 | 6.97 m | 19.04 bn $ | 1.0 % | 2,733 $ |
| 2014 | 13.11 m | 20.76 bn $ | 1.0 % | 1,584 $ |
| 2015 | 13.28 m | 21.47 bn $ | 1.0 % | 1,616 $ |
| 2016 | 14.57 m | 23.11 bn $ | 1.0 % | 1,586 $ |
| 2017 | 15.54 m | 27.88 bn $ | 1.1 % | 1,794 $ |
| 2018 | 17.42 m | 29.14 bn $ | 1.1 % | 1,673 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.
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