Can India Win Back Chinese Tourists—And a Slice of Their $251B Spend?

India reopens to Chinese tourists, but safety, perception, and Buddhist circuit upgrades hold the key to revival.

The Indian government and tour operators need to consider how the customer, the foreign traveller, sees India.

(Photo: The Quint)

Chinese kids continue to be fascinated by Sun Wukong, an epic character, even after the advent of internet games. Sun is the playful monkey king described in the 16th century Chinese epic, Journey to the West, as the guide-companion of a monk who visited the wonderous land of India to gain spiritual wisdom and knowledge about Buddhism.

This is different from the idea of China among Indians, which has been shaped largely by the aggression of politicians and military commanders since the 1962 war, and tales about the astounding industrial and technological development in that country. More recently, China provided weapons and real-time intelligence to Pakistan during the armed conflict.

Amid this tense atmosphere, India has decided to welcome Chinese tourists after a gap of five years. Tour operators are saying that the government’s decision to resume tourist visas will result in a significant inflow of Chinese travellers who continue to be attracted to India.

Beijing-based Global Times has reported intense searches about Indian travel sites taking place on the Chinese internet immediately after the announcement last week.

India received 3 lakh tourists from China, making up 27 percent of foreign tourists in 2019 when tourism visas were given to them. Whether or not India is able to recover this kind of tourist inflows would depend on subsequent measures that India needs to take. Opening up the visa window is not enough.

Visas, Flights, and Partnerships

“The government has taken a very important decision by resuming tourist visas. It should now relax conditions and procedures involved in the visa application process,” Subhas Goyal, Chairman of the Aviation and Tourism Committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, told The Quint.

“We are now looking forward to resumption of direct flights which will make a big difference.”

Subhas Goyal

He called for collaboration between the government's India Tourism and private tour operators with major Chinese agencies like Ctrip to facilitate the travel process and look after the needs of the tourists. India Tourism should also intensify their marketing efforts to inform the Chinese audience about various Indian attractions, he said.

Chinese were the biggest tourism spenders expending $251 billion, much higher than US citizens who spend $171 billion on outbound travel, in 2024. They were followed by the Germans, British, and the French. Indians who are increasingly opting for foreign travel took the 10th spot spending $35 billion.

Tourism as Diplomacy

But earning tourism money, a major generator of employment, is not the only reason behind the decision that came after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on 14 July. The idea is to expand confidence-building measures, and addressing the fog of distrust that covers the India-China relations.

The Narendra Modi government is also testing the political waters in India before launching a drive to attract Chinese investments.

“A beginning has been made. We need more access, and we need to have a lot more interaction, and possibly open some windows.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on S Jaishankar's visit to China

India has a long way to go when compared with the 2.8 lakh visas issued to Indian travellers by China in 2024, Global Times said in an editorial. “In competing for the Chinese tourist market, India has already fallen far behind neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives,” it said. “While this is undoubtedly a positive development, there is still a lot that the Indian side can do."

Fixing India’s Image as a Tourist Destination

One of the challenges facing the tourism industry is the low perception about safety of foreign tourists, mainly due to repeated occurrences of harassment of foreign travellers, including fleecing by guides, shop-keepers, hawkers, rickshaw, and taxi drivers.

Some cases of violence against foreign tourists are also reported from time to time. Stories about unsafe physical and hygienic conditions in India are often reported in the foreign media, severely constraining tourist arrivals.

Self-perception is not enough in tourism. Indian government and tour operators need to consider how the customer, the foreign traveller, sees India.

Recurring attacks in Kashmir has a negative impact. One reason behind the success of Kerala Tourism is the perception that the state is relatively safe. This is not the perception of certain North Indian states.

The Buddhist Circuit Advantage

Chinese and Japanese tourists are usually drawn to places in the Buddhist circuit like Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Sarnath, Khushinagar, and Sanchi.

Better and hygienic tourism infrastructure needs to be built to cater to travellers of different levels of spending capabilities.

For instance, a few Chinese restaurants would add to the charm. Goyal disagrees saying it is a demand-supply situation, and Chinese food would be available if there is enough demand for it.

This is where state governments and local municipal bodies need to step in. Governments is the northeastern region should also take steps to train a few thousand chefs capable of cooking Chinese, Japanese, and Thai foods who will easily get employment across dozens of tourist sites in the country.

More than anything else, we need to work on our capability to tolerate. Even people from the North East feel discriminated against in different North Indian cities.

Tourism cannot be separated from the social life of different regions because travellers mingle with local people, eat food from small shops and hawkers, and even visit Hindu religious sites. A visit to Vrindavan or Mayapur in West Bengal would confirm this.

(Saibal Dasgupta has been a foreign correspondent for 18 years and has authored Running with the Dragon: How India Should Do Business with China. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)