At 67.6 lakh, 2024 visa applications cross pre-Covid levels

NEW DELHI: Visa applications from India finally surpassed pre-Covid 2019 levels in 2024, by 4%, said visa sourcing and technology service provider

VFS Global

on Monday. About 65 lakh visa application were filed in India in 2019, say industry sources. The number did not reach that mark until last year, when it touched about 67.6 lakh.
Govt data shows over 3 crore Indians travelled abroad in 2024, 8.4% more than 2023's 2.8 crore & 12.3% more than 2019's 2.7 crore.
However, the number of foreigners coming to India is yet to recover. As per Union tourism ministry data, 2024 saw almost 96.6 lakh foreign tourist arrivals, 1.4% higher than 2023's 95.2 lakh but still 11.6% lower than 2019's 1.1 crore.
The Indian travel industry has been waiting for inbound recovery but that is yet to happen. While developments in Bangladesh, India's biggest source country for inbound travels, dealt a further blow to the delayed recovery, the industry says FTA estimates need a relook. For, these include the large

Indian diaspora

coming home for various reasons and the growing expat community that now works in the country.

"In reality, the foreign tourist numbers are only a fraction of the FTA numbers," Rajiv Mehra, president of inbound tour operators association IATO, recently told TOI.
VFS said the popular destinations for Indian travellers last year included Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, US and UK. "India continues to show a strong demand for international travel, and it's clear that this robust momentum will persist in 2025," said Yummi Talwar, VFS Global COO (South Asia).