Visa, travel hurdles holding back tourism: IndiGo chief

India should reform its visa process and make travel easier for foreign visitors to boost inbound tourism, as it currently attracts only a "handful" of overseas travellers compared with neighbours like Thailand, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said on Wednesday.

- DEEPAK PATEL

"We have 44 UNESCO heritage sites in India. Thailand has eight. We have mountains, the seas, the backwaters. We have culture, festivals, music, food, everything. And yet, it (India) attracts a handful of foreigners. So, I would say that the opportunity is out there," he said at a tourism conclave organised by Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH).

India welcomed about 9.95 million foreign tourists in 2024, up from 9.52 million in 2023 but still below the 10.93 million recorded in 2019. Thailand, by contrast, attracted around 35.55 million visitors last year, a 26.3 per cent rise from 2023.