Maharashtra Cancels Foreign Tours of Tourism Department Officials

MUMBAI, May 25, 2026: The Maharashtra government has cancelled all proposed foreign tours of its state tourism department and affiliated delegations with immediate effect, responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national appeal for conservation of foreign exchange reserves and aligning with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's directions to state departments on the same issue.

The decision, announced by Maharashtra Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai, follows an order issued to the department's Additional Chief Secretary directing the cancellation of all planned international visits by tourism officials and associated delegations. The Maharashtra tourism department has simultaneously urged citizens across the state to prioritise domestic travel over international trips in support of the broader national economic objective.

Maharashtra cancels foreign tours halted at Modi and Fadnavis direction

Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai confirmed the cancellation follows directly from two sets of directions, PM Modi's public appeal on May 10, in which the prime minister asked Indians to avoid non-essential foreign travel and gold purchases, and a corresponding state-level directive from Chief Minister Fadnavis reinforcing those priorities across Maharashtra government departments.

The ACS order applies to the tourism department's own officials as well as to delegations attached to or affiliated with the department that had planned international visits in the near term. No timeline for the resumption of foreign tours has been announced.

Desai framed the decision as part of a collective national response to economic pressures arising from global fuel price volatility and its impact on India's foreign exchange position. The cancellation of official international travel is presented as both a practical step and a symbolic demonstration of the state government's alignment with the Centre's economic management priorities.

Citizens urged to choose domestic destinations over international travel

Beyond the administrative cancellation of official tours, the Maharashtra Tourism Department extended the same message to the general public, formally appealing to residents to substitute planned international holidays with domestic destinations. The department framed domestic travel as a means of supporting local economies, conserving foreign exchange, reducing fuel consumption and driving employment in India's hospitality and transport sectors.

Maharashtra is home to several of India's most visited domestic tourism destinations, including Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad with the Ajanta and Ellora caves, the coastal Konkan belt, Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala and the Vidarbha wildlife circuits. A shift in even a portion of potential international travellers from Maharashtra toward domestic alternatives would generate measurable demand across these regions' hotel, restaurant and transport infrastructure.

Move reflects broader national state-level response to Modi's appeal

Maharashtra's decision to formally cancel tourism department foreign tours is among the earliest state government actions to translate PM Modi's May 10 public appeal into an administrative order. Modi's appeal, which also covered gold purchases and outbound leisure travel, was framed around India's foreign exchange position at a time when global fuel prices and West Asia conflict spillovers have placed additional pressure on the rupee and current account dynamics.

Industry observers note that the appeal has already had a measurable initial effect on outbound travel inquiries, which some segments of the travel trade reported falling by around 15% in the days immediately following Modi's statement. Maharashtra, as India's most populous state and its largest generator of outbound international leisure travel, carries particular significance in determining whether the national-level appeal translates into a sustained shift in travel behaviour.

Domestic hospitality sector positioned to benefit

Hotel operators and tourism industry bodies across India have broadly welcomed the direction. The Hotel Association of India and major chain operators including IHCL and Radisson Hotel Group have publicly backed the domestic tourism push, noting that redirected outbound travel would strengthen demand for Indian properties, particularly in Tier II and III destinations that carry lower average room rates but higher capacity for incremental visitor growth.

For Maharashtra specifically, a sustained domestic tourism push could accelerate occupancy recovery at properties in the Konkan belt and lesser-visited interior destinations that have lagged behind gateway cities in post-pandemic revenue recovery. The Ministry of Tourism has indicated it is monitoring the sectoral impact of the domestic travel push nationally, though no coordinated incentive scheme for domestic tourists has been announced at the central level as yet.

Broader conservation directive applies across state departments

The foreign tour cancellation in the tourism department is part of a wider Maharashtra government exercise in which multiple departments are reviewing discretionary international spending. Chief Minister Fadnavis's directive extends the economic conservation approach across state government functions, of which official foreign travel is among the most visible and immediately addressable items in the near term.

The move positions Maharashtra as one of the first state governments to operationalise the PM's economic priorities through a formal departmental order, rather than limiting the response to public statements or general support for the Centre's position.