ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter examines international tourism flows into India. It begins by critically examining international tourism flows into India from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a post-colonial perspective and it draws upon much of the travel-orientated literature to do this. In so doing it also outlines the cultural encounters between the West and India that continue to influence the dominant perception of the country in the West. The chapter then discusses how, from being a predominantly international backpacker tourist destination in the twentieth century, India now attracts a much broader range of international tourists as a gradually enhanced infrastructure has made India a more attractive destination in the twenty-first century. Finally, this chapter also examines the development of new markets such as medical tourism and health tourism that have been at the forefront of contemporary tourism developments in India.
