Honourable Prime Minister,
I write this letter as a proud Indian, an optimist about India's future, but at the same time as someone who is concerned about the global economic environment and its impact on India.
In the last several years, under your leadership, India has witnessed few countries in the world have demonstrated the kind of momentum that India has shown. We are among the fastest-growing major economies, our infrastructure is improving rapidly, and our voice in international affairs carries increasing weight.
The global economy, however, remains uncertain due to geopolitical conflicts, supply chain disruptions, changing trade dynamics, inflationary pressures, volatile energy markets, and fluctuating capital flows. Ongoing tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and instability in West Asia continue to impact commodity markets and energy supplies.
So far, India has managed these global challenges better than many countries. However, recent developments, and indeed some of your own public statements, indicate the need for caution. Concerns about foreign investor outflows, pressure on foreign exchange reserves, rising prices, weakening consumer confidence, and growing economic uncertainty highlight potential risks to economic stability.
In such an environment, it becomes increasingly important to maximize returns from every potential source of foreign exchange earnings. Sectors that can attract foreign currency, generate employment, strengthen India's global image, and stimulate economic activity deserve focused policy attention.
In this context, tourism merits particular emphasis.
Tourism is often discussed merely as a hospitality sector. In reality, tourism is simultaneously an economic sector, a foreign exchange sector, a soft power sector, a regional development sector, and an employment generation sector. It brings foreign currency into the country, supports a wide range of businesses and jobs, promotes regional development, and enhances India's international visibility and influence.
Although tourism's direct contribution to foreign exchange earnings may be modest compared to some major export sectors, its multiplier effects are significant. Every tourist supports airlines, hotels, restaurants, transport operators, guides, local artisans, small businesses, and countless service providers. Few sectors distribute economic benefits as widely.
For this reason, India should seek to maximize the returns from tourism and fully leverage its potential as a driver of economic growth, employment generation, foreign exchange earnings, and international goodwill.
The question is simple: Are we doing enough to maximize the returns from tourism?
I do not believe we are.
There does not appear to be a clear national roadmap to unlock the sector's full potential.
Broadly speaking, India attracts three categories of international visitors: business travellers, medical tourists, and general leisure tourists.
The flow of business travellers is closely linked to the overall health and growth of the economy. Increasing these numbers requires long-term efforts, sustained economic expansion, and greater integration with global business networks. Governments, industry bodies, and stakeholders can certainly organize conferences and international events, but their impact is likely to be gradual rather than transformative in the near future.
Medical tourism presents a more immediate opportunity.
India already attracts a large number of patients and their families because of its medical expertise, infrastructure, and cost competitiveness. Indian doctors are respected worldwide. Our hospitals perform highly complex procedures that attract patients from many countries. Most importantly, India offers a significant cost arbitrage compared to many developed nations, allowing patients to access high-quality treatment at a fraction of the cost they would incur elsewhere.
In countries such as the United States, medical treatment can be both prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. In several cases, a patient requiring a major procedure could travel to India, undergo treatment, stay in premium accommodation with accompanying family members, visit iconic attractions such as the Taj Mahal post recovery, and still spend less than they would in their home country!
Private hospitals and healthcare providers are already promoting medical tourism. However, I believe the opportunity can be approached more strategically.
Why should medical tourism begin at the hospital door? Why should it not begin at the Indian embassy?
Prospective patients could receive assistance with visas, travel planning, accommodation, treatment coordination, recovery support, and post-treatment tourism opportunities. Government-backed facilitation would increase confidence and make decision-making easier for patients and their families.
With the support and credibility of the Government of India, prospective patients across the world would find it easier to choose India for treatment. India should actively position itself as the world's preferred destination for high-quality and affordable healthcare. At a time when every source of foreign exchange earnings matters, this opportunity deserves far greater attention.
The greatest untapped opportunity, however, lies in general tourism.
India possesses almost every ingredient required for tourism success. Few countries can offer the diversity that India offers within a single national boundary. A traveller can experience the Himalayas, deserts, beaches, hill stations, rainforests, wildlife reserves, historical monuments, spiritual destinations, tribal cultures, rural life, and modern metropolitan cities, all within one country. Many nations build global tourism brands around one or two iconic attractions. India possesses hundreds.
Yet despite these advantages, I often feel that India extracts only a fraction of the economic value these assets are capable of generating. The reason is not a lack of attractions. The reason is that we often underinvest in the systems and experiences that surround those attractions.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that India's challenge is not an attraction problem. It is an experience problem.
Due to the attractions that India offers, there is already an organic and automatic inflow of tourists. Howeverm, I firmly believe that many state governments are merely reaping the benefits of these natural and historical advantages while taking them for granted. There appear to be limited efforts to maximize the opportunity through long-term planning and execution.
To illustrate this point, I will use the example of Goa.
Goa is one of India's most recognizable tourism destinations. It possesses beaches, culture, cuisine, nightlife, hospitality infrastructure, and global brand recognition. It attracts millions of visitors annually and remains one of India's most important tourism destinations.
Yet despite these advantages, recent conversations about Goa increasingly revolve around problems rather than opportunities.
As someone who has visited Goa multiple times over the years, I have observed a noticeable shift in perception. I once considered Goa an easy and convenient holiday destination. One could travel there with minimal planning and still have a wonderful experience. Goa felt effortless. You simply could not go wrong with Goa!
Today, however, many discussions revolve around transportation issues, pricing concerns, environmental challenges, and the overall tourist experience. I say this respectfully but directly. The persistence of these complaints point towards a governance problem and a failure of long-term planning.
Transportation
One of the most frequently discussed issues in Goa relates to transportation. Visitors regularly express frustration regarding mobility within the state. Taxi aggregator services such as Ola and Uber are not available in Goa. Local taxi operators (often called Taxi Mafia) frequently charge exorbitant fares for short journeys, and reports of tourists being harassed or intimidated are common.
There may be political considerations involved in protecting the interests of local taxi operators. However, the larger question is whether such policies are serving the long-term interests of Goa's tourism economy. Tourist footfall seems to have declined in recent years.
Visitors driving into Goa from neighbouring states often feel harassed by frequent police checks. Vehicles are regularly stopped at seemingly random locations for 'document inspections'.
I experienced this personally during one of my visits. Google Maps directed me onto a road that had recently been converted into a one-way street. The road was outside the city, traffic was virtually non-existent, and there was no obvious indication that the traffic pattern had changed. Yet, several policemen were stationed at that exact location and immediately stopped my vehicle. When I requested that a formal challan be issued and asked for a receipt, I was informed that the offence could result in my immediate arrest. While I know it was a scare tactic, I finally bought my freedom for INR 300!
Renting a vehicle used to be easy but now it is also becoming slightly trickier and costly. A lot of the service providers do not have the required permits. Complaints regarding operators demanding exorbitant payments for alleged vehicle damage, often shortly before a tourist's flight or departure, are common.
Disappointingly, the public transport infrastructure in Goa remains inadequate for a destination that depends so heavily on tourism. Public transport in Goa is affordable and reasonably effective for daytime travel between major hubs. However, it lacks the frequency, flexibility, and late-night reliability required for seamless movement between beaches and tourist destinations.
It is difficult to understand why transportation challenges that directly affect visitor experience have remained unresolved for so long. The government must take immediate corrective action to address these issues, including improving public transportation infrastructure, enhancing last-mile connectivity, and ensuring that visitors can travel within the state conveniently, safely, and at reasonable cost.
Water Quality
This issue is one of the primary reasons why I now hesitate to go to Goa. As per reports, Goa’s coastal and river waters face a severe environmental crisis driven by high levels of faecal coliform bacteria from untreated human waste. It is because beach shacks and hotels are dumping sewage directly into storm drains, rivers, and the sea. That is disgusting and shameful. I do not think enough people know about the issue as I do not think people would like to travel to a destination to swim in a gutter! Dumping of waste in the water bodies must be stopped immediately.
Infrastructure
If my understanding is correct, beach shacks in Goa receive three-year permits through a government lottery. Operators must renew their permits annually before each tourist season.
There may be valid reasons for this arrangement. However, from a business perspective, it creates a potential disincentive for long-term investment. If operators do not enjoy sufficient certainty regarding the future of their business, their primary focus is likely to remain on maximizing short-term returns rather than investing in better infrastructure.
Due to this issue, one finds that most beaches and beach shacks do not have proper washrooms, parking spaces and other infrastructure. For example, when you go to Morjim Beach - near the Sea Turtle nesting site - you would find shacks either with no washrooms or temporary ones. The ones that do have washrooms remain extremely dirty and the waste is dumped in the sea!
The state government should step in and create the necessary supporting infrastructure. Basic amenities such as changing rooms, showers, clean washrooms, safe and organized parking facilities, efficient waste management systems, and even secure locker rooms should be considered essential rather than optional at major tourist destinations.
If the state government does not wish to become directly involved in creating and maintaining such infrastructure, it should reconsider the existing permit framework for shack operators. Operators must be provided sufficient certainty and incentive to make long-term investments, while at the same time being held accountable for maintaining adequate infrastructure, sanitation standards, and visitor facilities.
Another issue relates to the temporary nature of beach shacks. Since these structures are legally classified as temporary, operators are required to completely dismantle them before the onset of the monsoon season.
While there are valid environmental and safety considerations behind this requirement, it is worth exploring whether a more efficient long-term approach is possible. Although beach activity naturally declines during the monsoon months, tourism does not come to a complete halt. The government could consider developing elevated permanent platforms or other suitable supporting infrastructure on which seasonal shacks and restaurants could be installed and operated.
Such an approach could reduce the recurring costs associated with annual construction and dismantling, encourage better-quality infrastructure, improve sanitation standards, and create a more sustainable operating environment for businesses.
Safety and Tourist Support
In India, and particularly in many tourism destinations, we often focus on attracting tourists without paying equal attention to what happens after they arrive. This is where every state governments, including Goa's, must accept greater responsibility.
India's greatest strength has always been its people. The overwhelming majority of Indians are welcoming, generous, and eager to help visitors. Countless tourists leave India with stories of extraordinary kindness shown by complete strangers.
Unfortunately, a nation's reputation is not shaped solely by positive experiences. A single horrific incident can undo years of goodwill.
The brutal sexual assault of a foreign tourist in Jharkhand, which attracted international attention, serves as a painful example. Similarly, countless videos circulating online show tourists being scammed, overcharged, misled, or harassed. Even isolated incidents can have disproportionate consequences in today's digital world.
The reality is that every tourist now possesses a global platform. A positive experience can encourage thousands of people to visit India. A negative experience can discourage them.
This is why the philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhava must evolve from a slogan into a system.
Every tourist should know exactly where to seek assistance when faced with a problem. Every major tourist destination should have visible tourist assistance centres and a dedicated multilingual helpline.
While I have not personally used the service, I understand that Indian Railways has made significant progress in addressing passenger grievances through responsive helplines and complaint mechanisms that often trigger prompt corrective action. A similar model should be replicated across major tourism destinations.
To sum it up, with transportation, safety, hygiene, and environmental challenges still affecting many destinations, it is important to ask what impression we are creating for international visitors. Every inconvenience creates friction. Every friction point reduces satisfaction. Every dissatisfied tourist becomes a source of negative publicity. In an era where every traveller is effectively a content creator, a single negative experience can influence thousands of future travel decisions.
Goa and every tourist destination in India has significant potential which can easily be tapped with some concentrated efforts. There are issues but the solutions are well within reach. I genuinely feel that - by just using common sense and equipped with the right intentions - even I can come up with a project plan regarding how to make meaningful and measurable changes to Goa and other tourist destinations in India. So, I simply fail to understand that why the bureaucrats - who are among the smartest minds - and political leaders - who have the power to make meaningful changes - are failing to rectify the issues.
In an era of global uncertainty, geopolitical instability, and intense economic competition, India cannot afford to leave a major source of foreign exchange earnings, employment, and international goodwill underdeveloped. Tourism is a key sector with enormous possibilities and opportunities. It deserves the same policy attention as manufacturing, technology, exports, and infrastructure. The solutions are largely known. What is required is vision, coordination, and execution.
India does not need more reasons for tourists to visit. India needs to deliver the right experience for tourists to visit again.
Respectfully,
A concerned and well-meaning citizen.
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