Last week, as Delhi welcomed the world for the BRICS Summit, I was in Vizag hearing about why India is struggling to bring the world here.

While moderating a panel at the annual IATO convention with the Ministry of Tourism, state governments, hotel sector and the inbound industry, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Suman Billa, additional secretary at the ministry, say out loud what much of the industry has been saying for years that India does have an inbound tourism problem.

Billa’s candor was refreshing. Domestic tourism is booming, hotels are filling up and airports are expanding. But has that success made India too comfortable?

So, where is the disconnect?

Is India too expensive? Is the visitor experience falling short? Are we failing to market the country? Or has our enormous domestic market simply made inbound tourism less urgent?

India has no shortage of things to see, do or sell. Everybody knows there is a problem. I guess the question now is whether we’re genuinely trying to bring the world to India, or has the domestic boom made it too easy to stop trying?