Indian outbound tourism demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2025, with 32.71 million overseas departures representing a 5.9% increase from 30.89 million in 2024, according to the ministry of tourism's latest Tourism Snapshot Report. As reported by Mint, this growth occurred despite airlines rerouting flights around West Asia following regional conflicts earlier in the year. The momentum has continued into 2026, with 19.07 million international passenger movements recorded during the January-March quarter, comprising 9.77 million departing and 9.30 million arriving passengers. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), this represents a continuation of the strong travel momentum that began in 2025.
The UAE remained India's largest international destination with 2.50 million departing passengers during Q1 2026, followed by Thailand (0.81 million), Singapore (0.74 million), Vietnam (0.20 million), and the United States (0.15 million). According to the ministry's data, leisure travel accounted for 43.5% of overseas departures in 2025, with air travel representing 98% of all departures. Thailand welcomed 2.49 million Indian visitors in 2025, making India one of its top three source markets, while Indian travelers spent 93.86 billion baht ($2.8 billion) during the year. Between January and June 2026, Thailand has already recorded 1.19 million Indian arrivals, with the country expecting around 2.5 million Indian visitors this year, generating an estimated 93.24 billion baht in tourism revenue.
Australia welcomed close to 450,000 Indian visitors in the year ended March 2026, up from 443,000 in 2024, with Indians spending A$2.5 billion ($1.61 billion) on their trips. Japan recorded an all-time high of 315,100 Indian visitors in 2025, up from 233,000 in 2024, while South Korea's Indian visitor numbers climbed to nearly 200,000, up 13% year-on-year from 176,668 arrivals in 2024. South Africa welcomed close to 70,000 Indian visitors in 2025 and about 13,000 in the first quarter of 2026, keeping India among its top 10 source markets globally. The US remained the second-largest overseas source market in 2025, excluding Canada and Mexico, with 2.06 million Indian visitors, and between January and May 2026, India ranked as the third-largest overseas source market.
India's outbound tourism market is projected to grow from $18.8 billion in 2024 to $55.4 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 11.4%, according to a FICCI-Nangia report. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's India Economic Strategy projects 1.2 million Indian visitors by 2035. Travel companies attribute the growth to rising disposable incomes, better connectivity, easier visa processes, and growing appetite for experiential travel. The changing profile of Indian travelers is becoming just as important as the rising numbers, with travel companies noting that outbound travel is no longer confined to standard hotel and sightseeing bookings, extending into wellness, culinary, sports and experiential tourism. As Radhika Khanijo, founder of luxury travel company Welgrow Travels, noted, "Everything from Brand USA to Morocco and Saudi, Australia and New Zealand are among the tourism boards taking a focused approach to doubling the figures in the travel segment."
