Tamil Nadu counted 35.7 crore domestic tourist visits in 2025, still well short of its 2019 peak, while foreign visits have recovered to less than a quarter of their pre-pandemic level. Read against the national series, the state’s share has fallen sharply. Here is the long view from the official numbers.
The numbers
Domestic tourist visits to Tamil Nadu reached 35,70,95,556 in 2025 on provisional figures, the Union tourism ministry told the Lok Sabha on 16 March 2026. That is 72 per cent of the 49.49 crore recorded in 2019. Foreign tourist visits, at 15,45,988, were 22.5 per cent of 2019’s 68,66,327.
Nationally the picture is the opposite. India’s domestic visits in 2025, at 413.28 crore, were 78 per cent above 2019, and foreign visits had recovered to 76 per cent of their 2019 level. So Tamil Nadu’s share has collapsed on both counts: from 21.3 per cent of India’s domestic visits in 2019 to 8.6 per cent in 2025, and from 21.9 per cent of foreign visits to 6.4 per cent.
What the numbers count
The figures are visits, as the ministry labels them, not people. A traveller who stays in three districts can be counted more than once, and the totals depend on how each state collects returns from hotels and sites. Tamil Nadu’s numbers come from the Commissioner of Tourism and are published in the Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu; the ministry’s Parliament answers reproduce them, with small differences. For 2019, for instance, the handbook gives 49,48,64,957 domestic visits and the ministry 49,48,65,257; for 2022 foreign visits, 4,07,139 against 4,07,126.
Because methods can change, the sharp fall in Tamil Nadu’s share should be read with care. The national total for 2025 rose much faster than any state’s own trend would suggest, and the answer does not explain how it was compiled. What can be said is that Tamil Nadu’s own series has not returned to 2019 levels. The ministry’s annexure shows Tamil Nadu only alongside Manipur and the national total, so it cannot be used to rank the states.
The long climb and the fall
Tamil Nadu’s domestic count rose more than sevenfold between 2008 and 2019, from 6.26 crore to 49.49 crore. The steepest gains came between 2011 and 2014, when the count more than doubled from 13.68 crore to 32.76 crore. It then flattened for three years before jumping again in 2018 and 2019. The pandemic cut it to 14.07 crore in 2020 and 11.53 crore in 2021, and the recovery since has been steady rather than rapid.
The handbook flags both pandemic years. It notes that there were no arrivals from April to August 2020 because of the lockdown, so most of that year’s 12.28 lakh foreign visits came in the first quarter, and that 2021 visits were cut by COVID-19 restrictions. Its own table of shares puts Tamil Nadu at 17.1 per cent of India’s foreign arrivals in 2020 and 4.74 per cent in 2022, close to the ministry’s figures.
Foreign visitors have not come back
| Year | Foreign visits to TN | India foreign visits | TN share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 47,21,978 | 2,47,14,503 | 19.1% |
| 2018 | 60,74,345 | 2,88,51,130 | 21.1% |
| 2019 | 68,66,327 | 3,14,08,666 | 21.9% |
| 2020 | 12,28,323 | 71,71,769 | 17.1% |
| 2021 | 57,622 | 10,54,642 | 5.5% |
| 2022 | 4,07,126 | 85,87,562 | 4.7% |
| 2023 | 11,74,899 | 1,92,41,212 | 6.1% |
| 2024 | 11,61,302 | 2,09,42,074 | 5.5% |
| 2025 (prov.) | 15,45,988 | 2,40,18,320 | 6.4% |
Source: Ministry of Tourism, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3834, 16 March 2026, annexure; shares are simple division
Before 2020, Tamil Nadu reported roughly one in five of all foreign tourist visits in India. Since 2021 it has hovered between 5 and 6.5 per cent. Foreign visits even dipped slightly between 2023 and 2024, from 11.75 lakh to 11.61 lakh, while the national figure rose.
Tamil Nadu’s approximate share of India’s foreign tourist visits in 2018 and 2019, against about 1 in 16 in 2025, from the ministry’s 2026 answer.
Where visitors go in the state
The handbook’s district table for 2022 shows how spread out domestic tourism is. Tiruchirappalli recorded the most visits, 2.04 crore, followed by Ramanathapuram with 1.83 crore, Kanniyakumari with 1.66 crore, Madurai with 1.59 crore and Chennai with 1.50 crore. Temple towns dominate the top of the list.
| District (2022) | Domestic visits | Foreign visits |
|---|---|---|
| Tiruchirappalli | 2,03,65,852 | 76,541 |
| Ramanathapuram | 1,83,35,979 | 293 |
| Kanniyakumari | 1,66,29,482 | 2,502 |
| Madurai | 1,58,39,414 | 16,637 |
| Chennai | 1,48,18,855 | 1,45,099 |
| Chengalpattu | 73,76,285 | 42,231 |
| Vellore | 6,24,594 | 79,390 |
Source: Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu 2022-23, Table 40.3, Department of Economics and Statistics (data from the Commissioner of Tourism)
Foreign visits are far more concentrated. Chennai accounted for 1,45,099 of the state’s 4,07,139 foreign visits in 2022, about 36 per cent, with Vellore, Tiruchirappalli and Chengalpattu next. The handbook does not classify visits by purpose.
What the state is doing with the numbers
In a Rajya Sabha answer of 12 March 2026, the tourism minister said Tamil Nadu had stayed among the top two states and union territories by visitor numbers over the past five years, with 30,80,03,316 visitors in 2024. That figure is the sum of the domestic and foreign counts for the year. Central money has followed the visitor base to temple and heritage towns: the same answer lists sanctions for Mamallapuram, Rameswaram, Kanchipuram, Velankanni and the eight Navagraha temples. At the site level, the ASI’s 2019-20 ticket data put Mamallapuram’s monuments seventh nationally for domestic visitors, with 12,60,358, according to the India Tourism Statistics 2020 dataset.
It’s often said foreign tourists have returned to Tamil Nadu since the pandemic.
The record shows The ministry’s figures show 15.46 lakh foreign visits in 2025, against 68.66 lakh in 2019. Nationally, foreign visits were back to 76 per cent of 2019; in Tamil Nadu they were at 22.5 per cent.
What this means for you
- Tourism figures are visit counts from state returns, not unique travellers, so compare years within one series rather than across sources.
- Chennai is the state’s foreign gateway: more than a third of foreign visits in 2022 were recorded in the city.
- Domestic tourism is driven by temple districts; Chennai ranked fifth by domestic visits in 2022.
- The 2025 figures are provisional and may be revised when final numbers are published.
What to watch
Pending
Final 2025 figures replacing the provisional 35.71 crore domestic and 15.46 lakh foreign visits.
Pending
The next Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu, with district-wise arrivals for 2023 and later years.
Checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Figures and rules change; confirm on the linked official pages before relying on them.
Sources
- Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu 2022-23, Chapter 40 Tourism, Department of Economics and Statistics
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3834, 16 March 2026, Ministry of Tourism (tourist visits 2016-2025)
- Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2377, 12 March 2026, Ministry of Tourism (Tamil Nadu)
- Domestic visitors at 10 most popular centrally protected ticketed ASI monuments, 2019-20, data.gov.in
- Swadesh Darshan 2.0 and PRASHAD projects sanctioned to 15 January 2026, annexure, PIB
