 "tourists, tourism")
It could end up to be a lacklustre year for foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India even as competing south eastern countries and China have shown a sharp surge in 2025, many of them because of liberalised as well as free visa schemes.
According to the latest data, foreign tourist arrivals in India dropped to 6.18 million during the April-September 2025 period against 7.06 million during the same period last year, which was a drop of 12.4 per cent.
India’s foreign tourist arrivals had peaked at 10.93 million in 2019. While the numbers dropped sharply during pandemic years, it went up to 9.95 million in 2024.
The chances of 2025 becoming the breakthrough year are bleak due to the sharp fall in the first three quarters.
In contrast, Vietnam became the fastest growing market for foreign tourist arrivals in south east Asia, witnessing a dramatic influx of foreign tourist arrivals which hit 15.4 million between January-September — a growth of 21 per cent year on year.
In the first 11 months, this number is estimated to have hit 19.14 million. And the big push has largely come from its aggressive visa free policy, with extended stays till 45 days for some countries and substantial increase in air connectivity like direct flights
from India.
Buoyed by its success, the country is now aiming for 26 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2026, nearly two and a half time of what India achieved in 2024.
The other big attraction is Malaysia, which has between January and August attracted 28.24 million foreign tourists, representing a growth of 14.5 per cent, according to latest publicly available data.
It has overtaken Thailand, which saw its tourist arrivals numbers fall by 7.56 million between April to September, but still at 24.1 million.
The Malaysia magic has also worked because of visa free entry policy in around 180 countries — like for instance to Indians and Chinese— up to 30 days till December 2026, supported by a big promotion campaign.
In China, data till the first half of the year from Global Times show that as many as 38.05 million foreign nationals entered the country, an increase of 30.2 per cent on year, out of which a significant 13.64 million entered visa free.
In the first half of the year, the Chinese government implemented a visa free policy for tour groups from Asean countries, adding Indonesia to the list of countries which were permitted a 240 hours visa free transit policy.
Even the small island of the Maldives — an attractive resort destination — has been able to attract 2.23 million tourists in 2025 (up to 29th December), a growth of 9.8 per cent.
Global getaway surge
- FTA in April-September is 12.4% lower than last year
- India’s pre-pandemic peak of 10.93 million FTA in 2019 looks difficult to achieve in 2025
- Vietnam becomes fastest growing market in Southeast Asia for influx of FTA- hits over 19 million in November
- Malaysia overtakes Thailand with FTA hitting over 28 million in eight months
- China’s visa-free offering to many countries sees 30% growth in foreign travellers
