India has achieved a significant improvement in the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2026, climbing nine places to 31st rank among 110 economies. According to reports from Upstox News Desk and Rediff Moneynews, India's score improved 4.3% from 2024 to 4.42 out of 7, up from its previous position of 40th in the 2024 edition based on recalculated figures. The WEF's Head of Experience Economy and Cities Ramya Krishnaswamy noted that the latest Travel & Tourism Development Index shows that enabling conditions for travel and tourism are at their strongest since the pandemic, with 92% of economies improving since 2024.
Japan topped the rankings with a score of 5.27, followed by the United States at 5.23 and Spain at 5.22. As reported by Upstox News Desk and Rediff Moneynews, the top 5 positions also included Australia and France. The WEF noted that the leading economies generally benefit from established tourism sectors, extensive visitor infrastructure, strong international connectivity and developed business and visitor services. Despite global improvements, the report highlighted that advanced economies continued to dominate the top of the index, while some of the strongest momentum is occurring elsewhere, including in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Türkiye, Mexico and Brazil.
India was identified among the 10 largest non-high-income travel and tourism economies by direct tourism GDP, alongside China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Türkiye, Mexico and Brazil. According to the WEF report, these economies collectively account for more than 28% of global direct travel and tourism GDP, a share projected to rise to 35% by 2035. The major emerging tourism economies have been gaining ground, with their average TTDI score rising 4.7% since 2019, compared with 2.9% for all economies. China, India and Mexico also ranked among the top 10 for the number of World Heritage cultural sites, while India, China, Brazil and Mexico together account for more than 17% of UNESCO World Heritage natural sites among economies covered by the index.
The WEF highlighted India's combination of a highly cost-competitive travel environment with rich cultural resources, abundant natural assets and well-distributed tourism demand. As reported by Upstox News Desk and Rediff Moneynews, rapid improvements in tourism infrastructure, cultural assets and business travel resources have helped drive one of the largest gains among major tourism economies. The report noted that India combines a highly cost-competitive travel environment with rich cultural resources, abundant natural assets and well-distributed tourism demand. However, workforce skills, environmental sustainability and the quality of tourism infrastructure remain important constraints, despite recent improvement in visitor services.
The report showed that 92% of the 110 economies recorded an improvement in their TTDI score between 2024 and 2026, with the average score rising 2.1%, the fastest pace of improvement since 2019. According to Rediff Moneynews, travel and tourism conditions have strengthened across most of the world, but destinations face growing challenges including rising costs, geopolitical and climate disruption, workforce shortages and mounting pressure on infrastructure and communities. The WEF noted that increased visitors do not automatically translate into better livelihoods or higher quality jobs for local communities, particularly in destinations where tourism is highly seasonal. Between 2024 and 2026, travel became less affordable in three out of four economies, while tourism investment failed to keep pace with rising demand and labour shortages threatened further growth.
