For decades, global crisis have followed a predictable script for the tourism sector: uncertainty rises, bookings fall, businesses struggle and travellers postpone holidays. Yet the current geopolitical disruptions across West Asia appear to be producing a different outcome for the Indian travellers, showing that they are not travelling less; they are travelling differently.

In 2023, India recorded 9.52 million FTAs, bouncing back to 87% of its pre-pandemic levels, a robust 47.89% increase over 2022. Projections from PATA placed India on a trajectory to receive 13.34 million inbound tourists by 2024, a 22% jump over 2019. Yet in the first half of 2024, Ministry of Tourism reported that India attracted 4.7 million foreign visitors, still lagging the 5.3 million...