BLS International expects tourists from China to rise 15% next year

China flights opening to give 15% rise in tourist arrivals, says JMD Aggarwal

BLS International Services expects a 15 per cent rise in tourist arrivals to India from China in 2026, following the resumption of direct flights between the two countries.

 

Before the relations between the neighbours soured, India was witnessing nearly 400,000 tourists from China every year, which fell to a trickle in the past few years.

 

“Chinese travellers are one of the largest outbound travellers in the world. Chinese arrivals to India are projected to rise by nearly 15 per cent in 2026, reaching around 410,000 visitors and even a modest share of China's outbound tourism market has the potential to unlock multibillion dollar inflows for India's travel,” Shikhar Aggarwal, joint managing director, told Business Standard. 

   

The second largest company in the global visa outsourcing market, which is the Ministry of External Affairs-appointed agency in China for providing visa services to India, expects numbers to rise to these levels, but they're unlikely to contribute to India's foreign tourist arrivals for 2025, given that direct flights have only resumed since October 14.

 

“We feel that there is a big surge expected in the visa volume for Chinese coming to India and that is how we have also revamped our centres to enhance the structure. We've upgraded the technology, we've employed multilingual staff to further send in the service quality and operational efficiency. This will be a big boost for the Indian economy,” he added. For outbound travel, business and corporate travellers are likely to be among the first takers for visas to China, following which leisure tourism is expected to pick up.

 

The BSE-listed company that aims to become the largest globally, will spend ₹500 crore on acquisitions in the coming quarters, as it expands operations inorganically, after having spent ₹1,500 crore on acquisitions, including diversifying into hospitality, over the last couple of years. Last month, it bought a 100 per cent stake in UK’s Trefeddian Hotel for £6.55 mn (₹78.3 crore), through a step-down subsidiary, BLS UK Hotels Limited. Prior to this, it acquired the Turkish visa services company iDATA in July 2024 for ₹720 crore and Dubai-based citizenship-by-investment firm Citizenship Invest for ₹260 crore in September 2024.

 

“We grew 50 per cent compared to last year and our profitability grew by 30 per cent. We did around ₹750 crore of revenue and around ₹200 crore of Ebitda this quarter (September-end). We acquired two companies last year, for around ₹1,500 crore, and discussions are on for a few more. We have a big target to become a dominant player in the industry we are in,” Aggarwal added.