Historical periods of inbound tourism in India

The article provides an overview of the centuries-long experience of interaction of India with travelers from different regions. Analysis of historical material of travel and tourism to India identifies three historical periods of these activities: pre-colonial, colonial and modern. The article describes the main specifics of travel to India in each of these periods, analyzes the state of tourism industry of India in the modern period and defines the country’s place in the modern world tourism industry. The article also studies out the reason of the limited interest of foreign tourists to India, despite the fact that the country is well endowed with recreational resources (in 2013, India ranks only 42th place in the list of most visited countries by international tourist arrivals).