Home › Blog › India’s Foreign Tourist Arrivals: Latest Statistics
India’s Foreign Tourist Arrivals: Latest Statistics
India welcomed 9.95 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2024, alongside a broader measure of international tourist arrivals. These measures use different labels, so it helps to understand them before comparing years or planning a trip.
Here are the figures, the long-term context, and the gaps in the data on source markets and visitor spending.
Latest India Foreign Tourist Arrivals Statistics
As of October 2026, the latest full-year figures presented here are for 2024. Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) reached 9.95 million.
International tourist arrivals (ITA) are a separate measure. These measures are not interchangeable: separate figures are given for FTAs and ITA. Use one series at a time when you compare annual totals.
State-level foreign tourist visits are supplied by States and Union Territories. Those are visits to states, not a breakdown of the country where visitors live.
| Measure | Latest figure presented here | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign tourist arrivals | 9.95 million in 2024 | Arrivals to India |
| International tourist arrivals | Reported separately for 2024 | A separate arrivals measure; use it separately from FTAs |
| Foreign tourist visits by state | Top five named for 2024 | State-level visits, not country-of-origin data |
2024 tourism figures and state visit data name Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan as the five States with the highest foreign tourist visits.
For a traveller, the state ranking is useful as a broad signal of where visits are recorded. It does not show how many days visitors stayed, which towns they reached, or whether they travelled onward to another State.
That gap matters when using national figures to plan a regional itinerary. National totals describe the scale of travel, while local choices still depend on route, dates and the time you have.
How Arrivals Have Changed Over Time
The recent trend depends on which measure you follow. Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) and international tourist arrivals (ITAs) are different measures, so their totals should not be treated as interchangeable. Check the measure, reporting year and unit before calculating year-on-year change or comparing a current figure with a pre-pandemic benchmark.
Do not use an ITA comparison as an FTA recovery rate. The figures need to be checked against their definitions and the periods they cover.
This difference explains why two reports may appear to give conflicting totals. They may be using different arrival measures. Check the measure, reporting year and unit before calculating year-on-year change or comparing a current figure with a pre-pandemic benchmark.
A web page can also be a poor substitute for source data. An online data view may show years without the corresponding values, which cannot support a trend chart. Check downloadable data or API output before using it in a year-by-year table.
That is a useful caution for anyone building a graph: a named measure does not guarantee that every number is visible in a page extract. If a value cannot be verified in the source data, leave it out rather than filling the gap with an estimate.
Annual arrival counts alone do not provide a three-to-five-year forecast, visitor spending per person, average stay length or tourism receipts. Those measures need their own source series. Arrival counts alone cannot answer how much visitors spend or how long they stay.
Tourism employment is a wider economic measure that can include direct and indirect employment across the tourism sector. It should not be presented as jobs created by foreign visitors alone, or as a measure of foreign-tourism revenue.
Source Markets and Reasons for Visiting India
A national arrival total, on its own, does not explain which countries visitors come from. It also cannot show their travel patterns or destinations within the country, so it is not enough to rank source markets.
Purpose of travel is another gap. Arrival totals alone do not explain how many visitors came for holidays, work, family visits or other reasons. They also do not describe age, repeat visits or first-time travel. These may be useful questions for a trip planner, but an arrival count does not answer them.
For an individual visitor, the usable response is to plan around the route rather than assume that a national source-market trend predicts local demand. A traveller arriving in Guwahati may be starting a wider Assam or Northeast trip, or may need an overnight stop before continuing. The sequence and dates matter more than a national total.
Travellers mapping several stops can use this Northeast India first-timer itinerary to think through the order of a multi-day route. It helps shift the planning question from “Which country sends the most visitors?” to “How much time do I need between the places I want to see?”
State-level figures can help with destination planning, but they do not show the full route of each visitor or count unique people who stayed in each State.
For destination planning, use national totals to understand the broad scale of international travel. Then check current local information for the places and dates on your own itinerary. A national arrival count cannot tell you whether a particular stop fits comfortably into a short visit.
What the Figures Mean for Assam and Guwahati Travel
The national figures give context, not an Assam visitor count. The top five States named for foreign tourist visits in 2024 do not include Assam. That list alone does not reveal Assam’s total, its trend or the number of foreign visitors who pass through Guwahati.
For a traveller, the useful takeaway is simpler: national arrivals cannot tell you how busy a specific Guwahati hotel, attraction or road will be. Check the details that affect your own trip, such as your arrival time, onward departure and how much rest you need between flights.
Hotel Shiny Grand is an independent hotel near LGBI Airport in Guwahati. It has 35 rooms, a 24/7 front desk and an in-house chef-led kitchen and restaurant. Direct bookings include breakfast, Wi-Fi, parking and one complimentary one-way airport transfer (pickup or drop). Share your flight details when booking to arrange the transfer.
For a broader overview of arrival-day planning, the Guwahati LGBI Airport traveller’s guide covers the airport side of a Guwahati trip. It can help you think through what to sort out before your flight, rather than relying on national visitor totals for local logistics.
Hotel Shiny Grand’s location is suited to guests who want to stay near the airport rather than travel into central Guwahati after a late arrival. If you have an early departure, confirm your transfer details and tell the front desk when you need to leave.
Travellers weighing room costs against the wider trip budget can use this Northeast India travel budget guide as a planning aid. Keep transport and accommodation as separate parts of your estimate, then check current costs before you confirm each leg.
For the local picture, use state and destination information when it is available. A national total can frame your plans, but it cannot replace a current check of the places you intend to visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many foreign tourists visited India in 2024?
India recorded 9.95 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2024. International tourist arrivals are a separate measure. Keep the labels distinct when quoting either total, since they have different comparisons and should not be combined into one trend.
Did foreign tourist arrivals in India recover to pre-pandemic levels?
Whether arrivals returned to pre-pandemic levels depends on the measure. Compare FTA with FTA and ITA with ITA across 2019 and 2024; do not treat the totals as equivalent.
Which countries send the most foreign tourists to India?
A country-of-origin ranking is needed to identify the leading source countries. National arrival totals and State-level foreign tourist visits do not, by themselves, provide that ranking. Use a source-market table before naming or ranking markets.
Which Indian States receive the most foreign tourist visits?
For 2024, the five States named are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. These are reported foreign tourist visits by State, not a list of the most visited individual cities or a count of unique travellers. Use the measure as a State-level comparison only.
Do national arrival totals show how many tourists visit Assam?
No. A national total does not give an Assam-specific visitor count. For an Assam trip, check local destination information and plan around your own route.
Conclusion
Use the Ministry’s figures as national context, and keep FTAs separate from ITA when comparing years. For a Guwahati stay near the airport, check dates and transfer needs, then book direct with Hotel Shiny Grand to request a room and arrange the included one-way airport transfer.
For official context, see the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the India Brand Equity Foundation. Figures change, so confirm current numbers at the source.