'Foreign tourists have disappeared': Udaipur's top hotelier pitches for tax cut to bring them back to India
In 2024, the country recorded just 99.52 lakh foreign visitors - fewer than much smaller nations like Vietnam and Thailand
- Oct 7, 2025,
- Updated Oct 7, 2025 5:55 PM IST
India has, in recent years, witnessed a steady decline in foreign tourist arrivals. In 2024, the country recorded just 99.52 lakh foreign visitors - fewer than much smaller nations like Vietnam and Thailand. Vietnam attracted about 17.6 million international tourists last year, while Thailand drew 35.54 million, compared with India's nearly 10 million.
Udaipur's iconic Lake Pichola Hotel was once packed with foreign guests, but now foreigners have almost "disappeared", heritage property's managing director Chandra Bhanu Singh says in an exclusive interview with Business Today Digital. He cites global unrest, safety concerns, and high taxes for the downturn, and urges the government to remove GST on foreign tourists to revive inbound travel.
Edited Excerpts
Foreign tourist arrivals have declined in India. How do you see it?
There was a time when 70% of our guests were foreigners. But now they have disappeared. In August, hardly 20-25 foreigners stayed (at Lake Pichola). They don't want to come. They don't have enough money. Because their countries are also in a mess. What's happening in the world? The leaders are facing problems. Look, they set fire to Nepal. Before that, they set fire to Bangladesh. There is a lot of unrest in the world. In such a situation, where should they go?
Foreigners have been replaced by domestic travellers. As far as we are concerned, our attitude is different from life. This is the difference between the thoughts of foreigners and ours. We think that we have earned this money, and we have to enjoy now.
But, there is an argument that it is not that the foreign tourists are not travelling. They are travelling, but not coming to India.
But if I tell you that when we built this hotel, we were packed with foreigners every day.
So what changed? We have a lot of disturbed areas. Look what happened in Pahalgam. Who thought that 26 people were going to die? So these foreigners think, is India safe? Who thought that we were going to die? That was a terrible act. In the same way, look at Kerala. There are so many problems. They are not a safe destination. In Goa, footfalls have dropped. There were 90% foreigners in Goa, and not many domestic people. Then they started weddings. Let's make money from this. Take Udaipur, for example. It's the number one wedding destination in India. These people earn as much money in weddings as we earn in a year.
As a hotelier, what reforms would you like to see from the state or central government to attract more foreign tourists to India?
They are doing it. I have no complaints. We have a beautiful network of roads. We have six lanes everywhere. After that, they have done electrification of train routes here. I think a bullet train will run from Udaipur to Ahmedabad. After that, our airport was small. They made it very good. And we have connectivity with South India. We have connectivity with East India. We have connectivity with West India. After that, an international airport is being built here. They are doing it without asking. I don't have a single word against the government.
There's also the issue of varying tax rates - hotels are taxed at 5% GST, while restaurants within hotels attract 18% GST
Yes, that's true. I have one more standalone restaurant, it's called 1559 AD. It has 5% GST. But at our restaurant inside this hotel, whose tariff is above Rs 7,500, GST is 18%. In our heritage meeting held recently, we asked the union tourism minister to look into this. People laugh at us. They say - 'we go there to eat, they impose 5%. You are imposing 18%'. What should we answer - our tariff is above Rs 7,500, that's why we are imposing 18%? Stupidity. What can we do? Earlier, it was 28%. Thank God, it was removed.
Some believe that the number of foreign tourists visiting India has declined because destinations like Sri Lanka and Vietnam are emerging as new hotspots. Do you agree?
Yes. These countries do not charge taxes from foreigners. No tax for them. We told this to (Union Tourism Minister) Gajendra Singh. We told him that our heritage hotels have forts and mansions. And it is difficult to maintain them. You should at least remove GST for foreigners. We wrote this to him. Because in foreign countries, they are not being taxed. We told him to at least do it here. You are making money from domestic. How much is domestic today? 90%. Leave these 10%. Let's see what happens. He is going to take this matter to the finance minister.
India's tourism sector contributes only about 3-4% to the GDP. While Paris alone attracts around 25 million foreign visitors, India attracts just about 11 million. What is holding India back?
When I studied in Austria, the population of the entire country was 7 million. The tourist inflow in a year was 14 million. Double the population of Austria. Where are we going? You have such a mighty country. There are seas, mountains, and deserts. Everyone is giving you under one roof. If you see India, you see the world.
What do you think should be done to attract foreign tourists?
They (foreign tourists) should be given tax benefits - they won't be taxed on food or accommodation. That will be the biggest relief. I always feel that Udaipur is doing well today because of the airport, beautiful roads, lovely railway, and infrastructure. We are asking the municipal bodies to do something to remove stray cattle and dogs. Dogs are attacking these days. My request to the authorities is - do something about the cattle and dogs. They should not be on the street. They need to be looked after.
India has, in recent years, witnessed a steady decline in foreign tourist arrivals. In 2024, the country recorded just 99.52 lakh foreign visitors - fewer than much smaller nations like Vietnam and Thailand. Vietnam attracted about 17.6 million international tourists last year, while Thailand drew 35.54 million, compared with India's nearly 10 million.
Udaipur's iconic Lake Pichola Hotel was once packed with foreign guests, but now foreigners have almost "disappeared", heritage property's managing director Chandra Bhanu Singh says in an exclusive interview with Business Today Digital. He cites global unrest, safety concerns, and high taxes for the downturn, and urges the government to remove GST on foreign tourists to revive inbound travel.
Edited Excerpts
Foreign tourist arrivals have declined in India. How do you see it?
There was a time when 70% of our guests were foreigners. But now they have disappeared. In August, hardly 20-25 foreigners stayed (at Lake Pichola). They don't want to come. They don't have enough money. Because their countries are also in a mess. What's happening in the world? The leaders are facing problems. Look, they set fire to Nepal. Before that, they set fire to Bangladesh. There is a lot of unrest in the world. In such a situation, where should they go?
Foreigners have been replaced by domestic travellers. As far as we are concerned, our attitude is different from life. This is the difference between the thoughts of foreigners and ours. We think that we have earned this money, and we have to enjoy now.
But, there is an argument that it is not that the foreign tourists are not travelling. They are travelling, but not coming to India.
But if I tell you that when we built this hotel, we were packed with foreigners every day.
So what changed? We have a lot of disturbed areas. Look what happened in Pahalgam. Who thought that 26 people were going to die? So these foreigners think, is India safe? Who thought that we were going to die? That was a terrible act. In the same way, look at Kerala. There are so many problems. They are not a safe destination. In Goa, footfalls have dropped. There were 90% foreigners in Goa, and not many domestic people. Then they started weddings. Let's make money from this. Take Udaipur, for example. It's the number one wedding destination in India. These people earn as much money in weddings as we earn in a year.
As a hotelier, what reforms would you like to see from the state or central government to attract more foreign tourists to India?
They are doing it. I have no complaints. We have a beautiful network of roads. We have six lanes everywhere. After that, they have done electrification of train routes here. I think a bullet train will run from Udaipur to Ahmedabad. After that, our airport was small. They made it very good. And we have connectivity with South India. We have connectivity with East India. We have connectivity with West India. After that, an international airport is being built here. They are doing it without asking. I don't have a single word against the government.
There's also the issue of varying tax rates - hotels are taxed at 5% GST, while restaurants within hotels attract 18% GST
Yes, that's true. I have one more standalone restaurant, it's called 1559 AD. It has 5% GST. But at our restaurant inside this hotel, whose tariff is above Rs 7,500, GST is 18%. In our heritage meeting held recently, we asked the union tourism minister to look into this. People laugh at us. They say - 'we go there to eat, they impose 5%. You are imposing 18%'. What should we answer - our tariff is above Rs 7,500, that's why we are imposing 18%? Stupidity. What can we do? Earlier, it was 28%. Thank God, it was removed.
Some believe that the number of foreign tourists visiting India has declined because destinations like Sri Lanka and Vietnam are emerging as new hotspots. Do you agree?
Yes. These countries do not charge taxes from foreigners. No tax for them. We told this to (Union Tourism Minister) Gajendra Singh. We told him that our heritage hotels have forts and mansions. And it is difficult to maintain them. You should at least remove GST for foreigners. We wrote this to him. Because in foreign countries, they are not being taxed. We told him to at least do it here. You are making money from domestic. How much is domestic today? 90%. Leave these 10%. Let's see what happens. He is going to take this matter to the finance minister.
India's tourism sector contributes only about 3-4% to the GDP. While Paris alone attracts around 25 million foreign visitors, India attracts just about 11 million. What is holding India back?
When I studied in Austria, the population of the entire country was 7 million. The tourist inflow in a year was 14 million. Double the population of Austria. Where are we going? You have such a mighty country. There are seas, mountains, and deserts. Everyone is giving you under one roof. If you see India, you see the world.
What do you think should be done to attract foreign tourists?
They (foreign tourists) should be given tax benefits - they won't be taxed on food or accommodation. That will be the biggest relief. I always feel that Udaipur is doing well today because of the airport, beautiful roads, lovely railway, and infrastructure. We are asking the municipal bodies to do something to remove stray cattle and dogs. Dogs are attacking these days. My request to the authorities is - do something about the cattle and dogs. They should not be on the street. They need to be looked after.