India should be cheaper than Thailand, but isn’t: Shashi Tharoor on tourism challenge

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called for policy reforms, infrastructure improvements, and a greater role for the private sector to boost India’s tourism industry, arguing that government officials are often not best placed to market the country to foreign visitors.

Speaking during a fireside chat with members of the Indian diaspora in Thailand, Tharoor was asked whether the Indian government needed to do more to make tourism easier and more attractive, especially when compared with Thailand.

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“The government has to do a lot to make India an easier place to visit,” Tharoor said, pointing to financial, tax and policy changes that could make travel more affordable. He argued that structural issues, including floor space regulations, have contributed to higher hotel costs in India.

“I’ve written articles advocating some changes that would make hotel rooms more affordable than they are right now. Largely because we have a series of floor space index problems, which means that the available land is being used for fairly low-level building spaces. And so each room constructed has to charge more to break even than in many countries.”

“Thailand is historically very much cheaper to visit for a tourist than India is. And that’s a bit ironic because in many ways your per capita income is higher than ours. So we should actually be cheaper than you,” he added.

Tharoor said the government could play a significant role in improving infrastructure and easing regulations, but questioned its effectiveness in tourism promotion. “But the truth is, bureaucrats are not great at this stuff,” he said.

Drawing a distinction between policymaking and marketing, Tharoor praised former bureaucrat Amitabh Kant’s role in creating the successful Incredible India campaign but suggested tourism promotion should largely be left to industry players.

“I’ve seen Indian tourism promotion over decades, and except for a few inspiring exceptions like my friend Amitabh Kant, who devised the Incredible India campaign, I would say that a lot of that is not well done by government officials,” he said.

“What you need is tour operators, private sector tour people who do tours, actually not just staying in India, welcoming people, but also coming out and attracting people to come by selling packages.”

According to Tharoor, the government’s focus should instead be on improving infrastructure in tourist destinations and addressing issues ranging from sanitation and waste disposal to hawking and begging.

“I think what I would rather have is to let the private sector do that. But let the government handle the infrastructure, the tax incentives, and so on that can make tourism viable, affordable both for the operators in India and for the tourists who we need to attract to our country,” he said.

Highlighting the scale of the challenge, Tharoor noted that “Bangkok gets in one month more tourists than the whole of India gets in a year.”

India continues to trail several Asian tourism destinations in attracting international visitors. Foreign tourist arrivals to India stood at 9.95 million in 2024, still below pre-pandemic levels.

Thailand, by contrast, welcomed more than 35.5 million international tourists in 2024, exceeding official targets and marking a strong recovery in the sector.