SPATIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND GATEWAY CONCENTRATION OF FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS IN INDIA: A CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS OF 2024

Abstract

                   This study examines the distribution patterns of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India using the Chi-Square (χ²) test to determine whether tourist flows are uniformly distributed across major dimensions of inbound tourism in 2024. The analysis covers mode of travel, major ports of entry, country of origin, regional distribution, gender composition, age structure, and duration of stay. The study is based on secondary data comprising 9,951,722 FTAs, sourced from the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The findings reject the null hypotheses at the 5 percent significance level across all tested categories, showing that tourist arrivals are concentrated rather than randomly distributed. Major gateway cities such as Delhi and Mumbai account for a substantial share of inbound traffic, North India attracts the highest proportion of foreign tourists, male visitors outnumber female visitors, the most represented age groups are 35–44 and 45–54 years, and duration-of-stay patterns differ significantly across source countries. The study concludes that the distribution of foreign tourism in India is structurally shaped by geography, connectivity, and demographic factors.