TAT: Tariff may affect Indian tourism

After securing solid growth from the Indian tourism market in the last two years while Asian markets stagnated, 2025 is an uncertain year for arrivals from the subcontinent as US tariff rates are expected to have an impact.

- NARUMON KASEMSUK

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) anticipates growth of more than 10% for the Indian market until 2026, after recording a surge of 14.4% to 1.3 million as of July 20.

Tourism growth has been sluggish for most Asian markets this year.

"We need a period after the new US tariff rates for India start on Aug 1 to gauge the impact on the Indian economy and tourism demand," said Siriges-a-nong Trirattanasongpol, director of the TAT's New Delhi office.

Last year, Thailand claimed a 6.15% share of the Indian outbound market, following the United Arab Emirates (25%), Saudi Arabia (11%) and the US (6.9%).

During an overseas market briefing held by the TAT last week, the agency dubbed this a "bittersweet year" for the Indian market as more countries step in to seize a share of the 30 million outbound travellers.