New Delhi: Aviation consultancy firm Capa India expects foreign arrivals to India to reach pre-covid levels only by calendar year (CY) 2023, while the total number of foreign tourists are expected to grow to just over 18 million by CY2030.
Inbound tourism recovery depends on FTAs (foreign tourist arrivals) characteristics, covid-19 impact on source markets, vaccine rollout and stringency of government restriction, Capa India said in a report titled ‘Inbound Tourism: Going Forward’.
While leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel is likely to recover faster than business travel, India is highly dependent on long-haul source markets for FTAs, which will place the country at a disadvantage in terms of recovery after the pandemic, it added.
During 2019, most foreign tourists in India come from countries like the United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Canada, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia and France, according to data from Capa India and the Ministry of Tourism.
However, the spread of covid-19 has peaked in destinations that are key sources of FTAs for India as active cases are now on a downtrend in these countries.
About 42.7% of FTAs in India were aged over 45 before February 2020, and these segments of tourists would take a longer time to recover to pre-covid levels, the report said.
“Vaccine rollout is in the initial stages worldwide, except the UK and the…
