India not shining enough for int'l tourists
New Delhi: Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India this year are expected to be flat at most compared with last year, amid global conflicts that have driven up oil prices and made travel more expensive, according to industry insiders. They also demanded the revival of marketing and promotional activities abroad to attract tourists.The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) estimates 8-9 million foreign tourists will visit India in 2026. As per the Ministry of Tourism's provisional estimates, 9.15 million foreign tourists arrived in India in calendar year 2025, falling 8.1% from the prior year and as much as 16.3% from pre-Covid 2019.This year in April, the first month of the fiscal year, India received about 534,000 foreign tourists, a 31% drop from April 2019 and 14.3% lower compared with a year earlier.133849761Aashish Gupta, consulting chief executive of FAITH, cited the war in Iran and Ukraine, which have pushed up fuel prices, and consequently in...