Written by: Devi Chakrabarti, Doctoral Researcher, Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, UK Sandipan Mitra, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Government General Degree College, Lalgarh. West Bengal’s unexpected rise as the second most visited Indian state for international tourists in 2024 has generated more curiosity than celebration. Over 3.1 million foreign visitors came last year, putting Bengal ahead of states whose landscapes and monuments have long dominated the global imagination of Indian travel. For a region that has rarely figured in conversations about inbound tourism beyond Sundarbans cruises or Darjeeling’s tea slopes, this sudden jump marks a shift underway in how the world is beginning to look towards Bengal. It is tempting to attribute this to promotion, impr

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