India’s Tourism Success Story Is Just Beginning – Unlocking International Travel Can Make It a Global Tourism Powerhouse

India has established itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing Travel & Tourism economies, driven by a thriving domestic market, significant investment in infrastructure, and an extraordinary tourism offering that keeps international visitors staying longer than almost anywhere else in the world.

According to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the country’s next opportunity is to build on these achievements by attracting a greater share of international visitor spending, reinforcing India’s position as one of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism destinations.

WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Research (EIR), sponsored by Chase Travel, Lead Research Partner, shows Travel & Tourism generated $263.6 billion for India’s economy in 2025 and supported 46.2 million jobs, underlining the sector’s vital role in the country’s continued economic success.

Travel & Tourism expanded by an impressive 7.3% in 2025, significantly outperforming the global average of 4.1%, further demonstrating the sector’s importance as a key engine of India’s economic growth.

India’s domestic tourism market continues to be one of the strongest in the world, with domestic visitor spending reaching $203 billion in 2025, representing 86% of all Travel & Tourism spending and growing by more than 10% year-on-year.

This exceptional domestic strength provides a solid platform for future growth. At the same time, international visitor spending currently represents around 14% of total tourism expenditure, highlighting a significant opportunity for India to capture a larger share of growing global travel demand.

Travel & Tourism now contributes 6.6% of India’s GDP and supports more than one in every ten jobs across the country.

WTTC forecasts the sector will continue to outperform the wider economy in 2026, with Travel & Tourism GDP expected to grow by 8.5%, increasing its economic contribution to $286.1 billion while supporting 48.1 million jobs.

Looking ahead, India’s Travel & Tourism sector is projected to almost double in size over the next decade, reaching $527 billion by 2036 and rising from the 10th largest Travel & Tourism economy in the world to fourth place globally.

International visitor spending is forecast to grow by almost 60% over the same period, reflecting the country’s enormous potential to attract more high-value international travellers.

The opportunity is reinforced by one of India’s greatest strengths: international visitors already spend an average of 18.5 days in the country, one of the longest average lengths of stay globally, reflecting the depth, diversity and richness of India’s tourism offering.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC, said: “India has every ingredient to become one of the world’s great international tourism success stories. The country has built one of the strongest domestic Travel & Tourism markets anywhere in the world, invested significantly in infrastructure and offers visitors an extraordinary diversity of experiences, reflected in one of the longest average visitor stays globally. These achievements deserve recognition. They provide an exceptionally strong foundation for the next phase of growth.

The opportunity now is to build on this success by attracting an even greater share of international travel. Through continued collaboration between government and the private sector, enhanced connectivity, seamless and secure travel experiences, and continued progress on visa facilitation, India can unlock even greater economic benefits for communities across the country while strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism destinations.”

Unlocking the next chapter of growth

WTTC believes India’s domestic tourism market will remain the foundation of future success. Building on this strength through targeted measures to encourage international demand can further enhance the country’s global competitiveness and economic impact.

To help realise this opportunity, WTTC believes continued collaboration between government and the private sector should focus on:

• Strengthening partnerships between government and industry to encourage investment and accelerate sustainable tourism growth.
• Continuing to enhance visa facilitation, including improvements to e-visa processes that simplify applications while maintaining robust security standards.
• Expanding international air connectivity to improve access from key global source markets.
• Continuing investment in world-class transport infrastructure, including projects such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor, to improve access to emerging destinations.
• Enhancing digital public infrastructure and visitor services to create more seamless travel experiences.
• Increasing international destination marketing to raise awareness in priority overseas markets.
• Continuing investment in heritage, cultural, nature and eco-tourism experiences that encourage longer stays and higher visitor spending.

By building on the remarkable progress already achieved, India has an opportunity to capture a greater share of international Travel & Tourism growth while delivering even greater economic and social benefits across the country. Through continued public-private collaboration, investment and innovation, WTTC believes India is well positioned to become one of the world’s defining Travel & Tourism success stories over the coming decade.

WTTC’s Economic Impact Research is produced in partnership with Oxford Economics and is among the world’s most authoritative datasets on the economic contribution of Travel & Tourism. 

Forecasts for 2026 are based on current economic and geopolitical conditions at the time of publication and include assumptions related to inflation, energy prices, consumer demand, and regional geopolitical developments. As the global situation evolves, projections may be subject to change.