Fewer Visitors Than Before the Pandemic: Reading the April 2026 Arrivals Snapshot

The Benchmark Against 2019 & Contextual Pressures

The Ministry of Tourism's Monthly Tourism Snapshot for April 2026 reports 5.34 lakh foreign tourist arrivals. That is 14.3% fewer than in April 2025 and 31.0% fewer than in April 2019. The data come from the Bureau of Immigration and the Reserve Bank of India, compiled by the ministry's Research and Analytics Division. The bulletin says estimated foreign-exchange earnings come from the Reserve Bank of India but does not give a figure for April, so we give none.

What the comparison with 2019 shows: April 2019 is the last pre-pandemic benchmark for the month. Arrivals in April 2026 being 31% below it means a month in which, on this measure, the recovery to pre-pandemic levels has not been completed. A single month can be affected by timing of festivals, weather and events, so we do not infer a trend. The annual 2025 data in our previous piece show a fall of 8.1% for the year, consistent in direction with the April comparison, though the two are different measures and periods.

Context: The Week's coverage, discussed in our hotel-industry piece, reported that April 2026 coincided with a geopolitical crisis linked to the US-Iran conflict, and JLL cautioned that uncertainty could affect international travel. We cannot say from the bulletin whether that crisis affected arrivals. We note it as context that a reader may wish to examine, not as a cause.

Source Markets & Motive Breakdown

Source markets: The top five source markets by share of arrivals were the United States at 14.28%, the United Kingdom at 11.04%, Bangladesh at 7.38%, Australia at 5.99% and Canada at 5.04%. Together these five markets account for about 43.7% of arrivals by our addition. The bulletin's top-ten chart labels its columns "2025" then "2026", and the percentages we quote match the first column, so the year assignment in that chart is uncertain. A reader who needs the exact market shares for April 2026 should consult the bulletin directly.

Why visitors come: By purpose, leisure was 35.6%, Indian diaspora 26.7%, business 14.2%, medical 8.3% and others 15.1%. The diaspora share, more than one in four, is notable. These are people visiting family and friends, who often stay in homes instead of hotels and spend differently from leisure tourists. For hotels, the 35.6% leisure and 14.2% business segments are the core of paid accommodation demand.

“More than one in four foreign arrivals is the diaspora visiting home. They are tourists, but not the tourists a resort plans for.”

Gateways, Gender Demographics & Outbound Imbalance

Where they land: By port of entry, Delhi took 39.2%, Mumbai 18.5%, Bengaluru 8.8%, Chennai 8.6% and Hyderabad 4.0%. These five airports account for 79.1% of arrivals by our addition. Foreign tourism is therefore concentrated in a few gateways, and cities such as Goa, Jaipur and Kochi that are popular destinations receive many visitors via the major airports.

Gender: Men were 57.3% and women 42.7%.

Outbound versus inbound: The annual data in the previous piece showed Indian nationals' departures abroad of 3.28 crore, against foreign tourist arrivals of 91.49 lakh. Indians leaving the country outnumbered foreign tourists arriving by a factor of about 3.6 by our division. The two numbers count different things, because departures include business and non-tourism trips, so the ratio is only indicative. It still shows that India is a larger source of travellers than a destination, by this measure.

How to Read Arrivals & Planning for Operators

How to read an arrivals snapshot: our guide: 1. Use the right base. 2019 is the pre-pandemic benchmark; 2025 is last year. 2. Do not extrapolate one month. Seasonality is strong. 3. Read the mix. A 26.7% diaspora share means a different spending pattern. 4. Mind the concentration. A few airports and markets dominate. 5. Check the labels. Charts with unclear year labels deserve a second look.

What a hotel can do with this profile: A hotel near a major gateway airport can see how arrivals break down by purpose and plan accordingly. Leisure and business guests are the main paying segments, so rate and package design should follow their calendar. A property that sees many diaspora guests may find that family events, weddings and festivals drive stays, and that guests often book at short notice or in groups. A medical segment of 8.3% is a reminder that hospitals near hotels and serviced apartments serve a distinct need, with longer stays and different amenities. None of these points comes from the bulletin directly, which gives only shares. They are our reading of what the shares might imply for planning, and an operator should test them against its own booking data.

Policy Implications & Unresolved Disclosures

What it means for operators: Hotels and tour operators serving foreign guests should track source-market conditions, visa processing and flight connectivity. Marketing to the diaspora is a distinct opportunity.

What it means for policy: The gap to 2019 suggests that inbound promotion, visa ease and connectivity remain issues for policymakers. Our sources do not analyse causes.

What we do not know: We do not know April's earnings, the causes of the fall, or the correct year labelling in the chart.