India's Tourism Paradox

While tourism numbers continue to rise, with 9.52 million foreign tourist arrivals and nearly 2.5 billion domestic visits in 2023, the infrastructure of safety, accountability, and gender-sensitive governance remains woefully underdeveloped

- Amal Chandra & Lakshmi Narayan

India is a land of breathtaking contrasts with snow-capped mountains and sun-kissed beaches, timeless temples and frenetic bazaars, sacred rivers and lush forests. Every few kilometers reveal a new dialect, a fresh cuisine, or an unfamiliar tradition. With over 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a civilizational legacy spanning millennia, India possesses a magnetic pull for global travelers. But this immense potential is undercut by a persistent and tragic truth: public spaces, especially those meant for leisure and tourism, remain fraught with danger. In a country that markets itself to the world as "Incredible India," violence, apathy, and moral policing corrode the foundations of safety, freedom, and credibility.

The recent horror at Pahalgam underscores this crisis. The serene Kashmiri meadow, long a haven for families and couples, was transformed into a site of carnage on April 22, 2025, when armed terrorists opened fire on tourists. Such incidents don't just claim lives; they erode the fragile trust that underpins India's tourism economy. Domestic and international travelers alike are left to think: can India truly guarantee their safety?

The question gained further urgency following the gang rape of a 20-year-old student at Odisha's Gopalpur beach last weekend. What should have been a day of leisure turned into a harrowing ordeal when a group of men brutally assaulted the young woman and tied up her male companion. This was not an isolated act of violence; it was a damning indictment of structural failures in law enforcement, political accountability, and social consciousness, converting places of beauty into monuments of fear.