New Delhi: In the latest data released by the US Commerce Department’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), it has been revealed that Indians, despite enduring long wait times for visa interviews and steep airfares, secured the second position among overseas visitors to the United States this summer.
The “Inbound Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT)” for the second quarter of 2023 (April-June) indicates that while Canada was the largest source of visitors to the US with 2.6 million travelers, India followed closely with over 500,000 visitors. Germany (470,000), France (over 400,000), and Brazil (370,000) completed the top five source markets for overseas travelers to the US. Mexico, sharing a land border with the US, saw 720,000 citizens flying to America this summer, placing Indians as the third-largest group.
While Canada and Mexico remain the top two source markets for all modes of travel, including land and air, India took the fourth position, just behind the UK in overall terms. Experts in the travel industry suggest that the number of Indian visitors to the US could have been even higher if not for persistent visa delays. The wait time for B1/B2 visitor visa applicants in India still stands at approximately 1.5 years, although it has improved from nearly three years during the previous winter. Steps have been taken by the embassy to reduce these wait times.
For instance, in Mumbai and Delhi, the wait times for B1/B2 visa interviews currently stand at 596 and 542 days, respectively, according to information provided by the US State Department website. In Chennai, the wait time is 526 days, Kolkata is 539 days, and Hyderabad is 506 days.
In an unprecedented development for India, the US Embassy processed over 1 million non-immigrant visa applications this year, a nearly 20% increase compared to the numbers processed in the pre-Covid years of 2019 and 2022. The embassy reported, “Indians now represent over 10% of all visa applicants worldwide, including 20% of all student visa applicants and 65% of all H & L category (employment) visa applicants.” In the previous year, over 1.2 million Indians visited the US.
Apart from visa delays, airfares to the US have remained notably high. One-way fares can often exceed the costs of round-trip tickets from the pre-Covid era due to factors such as the closure of Russian airspace, leading to a reduction in nonstop connectivity by US carriers to India. Air India continues to offer the highest number of nonstop flights between the two countries due to its ability to overfly Russia, enabling it to take the shortest routes.
Regarding overseas visitors during the summer of 2023 (April-June), NTTO data reveals that New York was the most visited state with 2.4 million visitors, followed by Florida (1.9 million), California (1.6 million), Nevada (520,000), and Texas (480,000). On average, overseas visitors spent 19 nights in the US and contributed an estimated $1,933 each to the local economy.
The data further showed that the overall travel spending in the US during this period was $14.9 billion, a significant increase of 29.5% from the second quarter of 2022. Vacation and holidays topped the list of main purposes for visits, followed by visiting friends and relatives and business trips. Shopping was the primary leisure activity, with sightseeing, national parks and monuments, art galleries and museums, and small towns and countryside also being popular choices.
While the data underscores the continued allure of the United States as a travel destination for Indians, it also highlights the challenges posed by visa delays and soaring airfares that travelers from India still face in their pursuit of the American dream.
