Data | Taj Mahal is India’s top-grossing monument, despite rapid decline in foreign tourists Premium

Earnings from the Taj Mahal were over five times than that of Delhi’s Red Fort and ten times than that of Mamallapuram monuments in Tamil Nadu and the Sun Temple in Bhubaneshwar each

Data: Taj Mahal is India’s top-grossing monument, despite rapid decline in foreign tourists. File | Photo Credit: AFP

The Taj Mahal continued to be the most visited monument in India, raking in over ₹25 crore in FY22, despite a 73% decrease in revenue compared to FY20 (nearly ₹97 crore) due to COVID-related restrictions. Earnings from the Taj Mahal were over five times than that of Delhi’s Red Fort and ten times than that of Mamallapuram monuments in Tamil Nadu and the Sun Temple in Bhubaneshwar each. Given the relatively higher ticket prices for foreign visitors, they make up a larger share of the Taj’s earnings. Due to the COVID-related travel restrictions, foreign tourist arrivals crashed to just about one lakh in 2021 from over nine lakh visitors before the pandemic. However, by May 2022, foreign tourist arrivals have improved to over four lakh, exhibiting a consistent increase from the pandemic lows

Most visited

The chart shows revenue earned by centrally-protected monuments in FY22. The Taj Mahal collected over ₹25 crore, the highest among 144 monuments protected under the ASI. According to official data, the Taj Mahal attracts about 7-8 million visitors annually, with more than 0.8 million from overseas. The Taj Mahal’s entry ticket for locals is ₹50 and for foreigners, it is ₹1,100. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the Taj earns ₹40 crore from locals and ₹110 crore from foreign tourists.

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Pandemic impact

The chart shows the decline in revenue (in %) of the top ten highest grossing monuments in FY22 compared to FY20. In seven of the ten monuments, revenue declined by over 50% due to COVID-related restrictions

*Group of Monuments

Arrivals revive

The chart shows month-wise foreign tourist arrivals between January 2019 and May 2022. Foreign tourist arrivals declined from roughly nine lakh a month in 2019 to one lakh in 2021

Earnings fall

The chart shows year-wise foreign exchange earnings from tourism in the past 20 years. From a peak of $30 billion in 2019, earnings from tourism plunged to $7 billion in 2020

Source: Lok Sabha, Ministry of Tourism