Tourism numbers reached record lows in 2020 both around the world and in India. As the sector seems to be slowly recovering in the last few months with the foreign tourist arrivals reporting an uptick, the news of a new variant has emerged. While the 2021 numbers for domestic tourists are still not available, the sector’s recovery is severely affected by the new variants. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism was one of the most important sectors in the world economy contributing to nearly 10% of global GDP and providing employment to over 320 million people worldwide. However, the pandemic resulted in the closure of international boundaries, imposition of severe travel restrictions and quarantines, which devastated the tourism sector. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals reduced by 74% in 2020 reaching the lowest levels in more than three decades. Further, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated a loss of USD 4 trillion to global GDP because of the losses incurred in the tourism sector. In India, the tourism sector is estimated to have directly contributed 2.7% to the GDP and 6.7% to the employment of the country in 2019-20. Including indirect contribution, the sector contributed to 5.2% of GDP and 15.3% of employment. According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)’s study published in September 2021, a significant number of jobs were lost in the tourism sector since the lockdown measures in early 2020. The study estimated that 14.5 million jobs during Q1 of 2020-21, 5.2 million jobs during Q2, and 1.8 million jobs during Q3 were lost as compared to an estimated 34.8 million (direct) jobs in 2019-20. This is attributed to the plummeting number of tourists, both domestic & foreign. Ministry of Tourism provides comprehensive data on domestic and foreign tourists in India To understand this devastating impact on the Tourism sector in India, we look at the trends of domestic and foreign tourists in India before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this, we used the data from the Ministry of Tourism’s website. The numbers are released annually under the following heads- Foreign Tourists Arrivals (FTA): This refers to the number of arrivals of foreign tourists/visitors to India, and not the number of persons. For instance, if a person visits India more than once, each arrival is counted as a new arrival. This data is made available on a monthly basis. Foreign Tourist Visits (FTV): This is the number of foreign tourists who visit a State/UT. Domestic Tourist Visits (DTV): This refers to the number of domestic tourists visiting a particular State/UT. The data on Foreign and Domestic Tourist Visits is collated at the state level. It is seen that FTV is always greater than FTA as a foreign tourist might visit multiple states/UTs. The data for FTV and DTV is available only on an annual basis (up to 2020). FTA in 2020 the lowest since 2003 Until 2019, there was a gradual increase in FTA in India over the years. The FTA had increased from 57.8 lakhs in 2011 to 109.3 lakhs in 2019, registering an increase of 89% in nine years. While the FTA in 2019 was the highest in the last three decades, FTA in 2020 was the lowest since 2003, the year the pandemic struck. In 2020, the FTA dropped to 27.4 lakhs, a decrease of almost 75% as compared to 2019. In 2021, the FTA is at 11.08 lakhs according to the provisional data for 11 months up to November 2021. The FTA in December 2021 must be more than 16.36 lakhs for the total FTA in 2021 to be more than the 2020 numbers, which is most unlikely as the new Omicron variant is spreading fast across the world. Moreover, travel restrictions are being imposed yet again in wake of the new variant. It also looks near impossible since the highest number of FTA in the month of December prior to the pandemic was 12.26 lakhs. Total FTA in India in 2021 is less than the FTA in January 2020 alone The FTA from January to November in 2017 was 88.68 lakhs which gradually increased to 97.04 lakhs in 2019 during the same period. In 2020, the FTA for the first 11 months was 26.54 lakhs, of which 21.38 lakh arrivals (80.6%) were in January and February. Since March 2020, when the viral infection was declared a global pandemic, the FTA has dropped considerably. FTA for the first 11 months of 2021 is only 11.08 lakhs, which is lower than the number of FTA in the month of January 2020 alone when it was 11.09 lakhs. Between 2017 & 2019, the month-wise FTA was on the rise for almost all the months (except March & May 2019). But, since March 2020 the trend in month-wise FTA has witnessed a sharp drop as expected.