Foreign tourist arrivals still below 2019: Ex-CEO says India's dirty, potholed cities are hurting economy

India's poor urban infrastructure is now hurting its economic image - and its foreign tourist numbers. Former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor on Wednesday said, "Foreign tourist arrivals into India are still below 2019 levels, while Vietnam, China, etc have well surpassed those levels. This is one of the reasons- in the age of social media, reels, and YouTubers, India's dirty and potholed cities are hurting India and its economy badly."

Kapoor was responding to a post by Mathilde R, a French expat living in Gurugram, who echoed the frustration many foreign residents feel about India's civic decline. "I couldn’t agree more," she wrote, referring to marketing veteran Suhel Seth's recent comments. "I live in India and truly cherish it, but I've seen cities like Gurugram deteriorate into near-unlivable conditions. Many of my foreign friends no longer wish to visit."

Mathilde said that while India hosts incredible private brands-from Vistara and Oberoi to high-end restaurants and boutiques-its public infrastructure resembles "post-war zones or underdeveloped nations." She added, "Citizens must demand their rightful access to clean and walkable public spaces-something considered a basic standard around the world."

Seth, in a widely circulated video, had warned: "It is tragic that while many of us are working towards building brand India - and I mean corporates, citizens, governments - we have led ourselves to an era of unimaginable urban decay. Look at all our major cities. They are poster boys of the worst misery that you can inflict on a city."

"Every year we know the monsoons will hit us and every year there is flooding," he said, pointing to systemic failures. "When you see headlines in international newspapers saying that people couldn’t get to work because of floods, you begin to imagine-how is India talking about being the fourth largest economy, a $4 trillion economy in the future-when basic hygiene, basic infrastructure is so miserable?"

Earlier this month, after a deadly two-hour downpour killed at least eight people in Gurugram, Seth called the city a "national shame" and urged the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to step in and restore order. "We have more liquor vends than functioning traffic lights. More bars than schools," he said at an Indian Express event.

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant backed Seth’s criticism, highlighting the revenue disparity: "If you can’t maintain Gurugram, it’s a massive failure of governance.”

Seth added: "These are hell holes…the damage will be to brand India, the damage will be to our investment potential and the damage will be to our reputation as a great nation."

Interestingly, while concerns about foreign tourist footfalls remain at the national level, Goa has shown a partial recovery. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte recently informed the Assembly that the coastal state witnessed a 39.48% rise in domestic tourism and a 50% recovery in international tourist arrivals in 2024 compared to 2019. That year, Goa had hosted 71.27 lakh domestic and 9.37 lakh international visitors, while in 2024, the figures stood at 99.41 lakh and 4.67 lakh respectively. "Goa has bounced back stronger than ever. These numbers clearly show that tourism is thriving," Khaunte said in the Assembly.