There was a time when travel was all about checking boxes of how many places you could squeeze into an itinerary, or how many pictures you could take in front of famous monuments. But that’s changed. Travel today is about something else entirely. It’s about what the journey does to you. And in that quiet, powerful shift, India is finding its moment. This isn’t just a country you visit. This is a country that stays with you .

India isn’t trying to compete with the world on spectacle because it doesn’t have to. What it offers is something much harder to find: depth, soul and meaning. And that’s exactly what more and more travellers seem to be looking for. From someone recovering in a hospital bed in Kerala to a young student arriving for a semester in Delhi, from a pilgrim lighting a diya by the Ganga to a filmmaker capturing a sunrise in Sikkim, India is shaping stories, not just vacations. The numbers reflect this intent. In the Union Budget 2025–26, the government set aside Rs 2541.06 crore for tourism a strong, clear message that this sector isn’t just about revenue anymore.

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It’s about identity. It’s about how we present ourselves to the world, how we open our doors not just to guests, but to fellow seekers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi summed it up in a way that really stayed with me: “Tourism in India is not just about sightseeing. It is about discovering the soul of a nation.” And you can feel that shift, especially in education tourism. There’s something beautiful about how India long known for its wisdom, its philosophy and its thinkers is now rediscovering its roots as a global classroom. Yes, the Study in India initiative is making it easier for students from other countries to come here, but it’s more than a policy.

It’s a feeling. In our classrooms, students don’t just gain knowledge; they experience a culture that’s messy, layered and alive. They learn from teachers, yes, but also from street conversations, temple chants, shared meals, latenight debates. There’s no single way to learn in India. And maybe that’s what makes it unforgettable. Then there’s healing. Not the kind that begins and ends with prescriptions, but the kind that holds your hand through the entire process. India’s emergence as a medical tourism destination is no accident. People from all over the world are coming here for treatments that might cost them a lifetime’s savings elsewhere. But they stay for something far more profound – the warmth, the gentleness and the unspoken comfort that comes when care feels personal. Our doctors may use cutting-edge machines, but they still take the time to ask how you’re feeling beyond the reports. And sometimes that’s what makes all the difference.

Healing, here, doesn’t just fix. It transforms. And in a world, that’s constantly noisy, constantly rushing, India continues to offer silence. Not the absence of sound, but the kind of stillness that lets you hear yourself again. Spiritual tourism isn’t a marketing term here, it’s something woven into the air. It’s in the way people lower their voices as they walk into a shrine. It’s in the eyes of a monk in a Ladakh monastery. It’s in the bells that ring at dusk in a small-town temple. For many, it’s their first real pause in years. A place where nobody asks who you are, only how you feel. And that simplicity can be life-changing. And then, unexpectedly, there’s film. The kind of cinema that takes you somewhere else, even when you’re sitting in your living room.

India has always had the landscapes, the architecture, and the drama – but now it has a system that welcomes global filmmakers too. With easier permissions, incentives, and infrastructure, more films are being made here, and every film becomes a window, a visual love letter to the places we call home. As the Prime Minister once said, “Cinema brings people to India before they even land here.” It’s true. For so many people abroad, their first glimpse of India is through a scene, an emotion on screen that stays with them long after the credits roll. What makes all of this meaningful is that it’s not being left to chance. The government’s plan to develop 50 world-class tourist destinations is rooted in real vision. These aren’t going to be just polished-up spots for sightseeing.

These are spaces designed for change for memorymaking, for learning, for healing, for belonging. They’ll hold stories of visitors who came for one thing, and left with something they couldn’t have imagined. As India moves toward 2047, its 100th year of independence, tourism is no longer on the side line. It’s becoming a central part of how we imagine ourselves in the world. And honestly, it’s fitting. Because this country has always been about journeys. Not just the ones you take on the road, but the ones that change the way you see, think, feel, and live. This is the new India. It isn’t asking the world to come and take a tour. It’s asking the world to come and find a part of itself here. And that invitation feels both old and new, rooted in our past, but wide open to the future. And maybe that’s why it’s working.

(The writer is a former civil servant, who writes on cinema and strategic communication. Inputs were provided by Zoya Ahmad and Vaishnavie Srinivasan. The views expressed are personal.)