India’s nascent tourism industry has its work cut out to double annual tourist numbers

Tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai wants Incredible India to double the annual number of foreign tourist arrivals, but the country has to do a lot of catching up with other countries. India does not figure in the top 20 destinations and its foreign tourist arrivals are just one-tenth of its neighbour China.

More than three million tourists visit the Taj Mahal a year. Photo by Ramesh NG.

A study...commissioned by the ministry of tourism has revealed that lack of hygiene, poor infrastructure and high population density are the major concerns of tourists. The tourists even listed corruption and harassment by touts as other major concerns.

These factors have pushed India to the lowest rank among other countries to which it was compared.