India foreign tourist arrivals fall 9% in 2025 as Bangladesh visits slump
Arrivals from Bangladesh dropped 73% to 4.7 lakh in 2025 from 17.5 lakh a year earlier. The fall of 12.8 lakh Bangladeshi visitors exceeded the total overall decline of 9.3 lakh foreign tourist arrivals during the year
Foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India fell more than 9% in 2025 to 90.2 lakh, official data showed, driven largely by a sharp decline in visitors from neighbouring Bangladesh amid heightened bilateral tensions.
Arrivals from Bangladesh dropped 73% to 4.7 lakh in 2025 from 17.5 lakh a year earlier. The fall of 12.8 lakh Bangladeshi visitors exceeded the total overall decline of 9.3 lakh foreign tourist arrivals during the year, says the Times of India.
As a result, Bangladesh slipped from India's second-largest source of foreign tourists to fifth place.
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The downturn followed increased tensions between the two countries, leading to a substantial reduction in the number of visas issued by both sides.
Despite the decline, travel industry executives said they were not deeply concerned about the drop in Bangladeshi arrivals, noting that many visitors from the country traditionally travel to India for medical treatment or work rather than leisure tourism. Because such visitors do not typically account for a large share of hotel stays or visits to major tourist attractions, their absence has not significantly affected occupancy rates or tourism infrastructure, industry officials said.
While inbound tourism slowed, outbound travel by Indians continued to grow. The number of Indians travelling abroad rose 6.6% to a record 3.3 crore in 2025.
A leading travel agent said domestic pricing was pushing middle-class travellers to look overseas. "India is outpricing itself in terms of star hotel rates despite reasonable domestic airfares in non-peak seasons. So, the Indian middle class now finds it cheaper to go to places like the UAE, CIS countries, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia than going to domestic destinations such as Goa or Kerala. And foreign tourists find a cheaper alternative to us."
Hoteliers, however, said strong domestic and corporate demand was cushioning the impact of fewer foreign leisure visitors. "India is seeing a rise in business travel and domestic travel remains strong. So, we have no reason to worry over foreign tourists skipping till such time that our properties are full. The demand for luxury stays is far more than the supply and this imbalance will ensure good yields (rates) for the big players here," a leading hotelier said.
