Tourism New Zealand Appoints Tishtar Parakh as India Country Manager

Leadership update reflects focus on India market and visitor growth

Tourism New Zealand has appointed Tishtar Parakh as Country Manager for India, marking a leadership update in one of its key international markets.

Based in Mumbai, Parakh brings experience from VisitBritain, where she served as Manager – Industry Relations and Partnerships for over six years. Her role involved working closely with trade partners and stakeholders across the travel ecosystem.

The appointment has been confirmed through a social media update.

India continues to be an important source market for New Zealand, accounting for around 2.3 per cent of total international visitor arrivals. According to Tourism New Zealand, the country welcomed more than 81,000 visitors from India in the 12 months ending January 2026.

While this represents a marginal decline of 1.3 per cent compared to the previous 12-month period, arrivals from India have shown steady recovery in the years following the reopening of international borders. As of January 2026, visitor numbers from India stood at approximately 122 per cent of levels recorded in the year ending January 2019. Overall, international tourism has recovered to about 96 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Data from Tourism New Zealand also shows that in the financial year ending March 2025, international visitor spend rose by 3 per cent year-on-year to NZD 12.5 billion (USD 7.3 billion), while total arrivals increased by 6 per cent to 3.51 million.

Among key markets, visitors from Australia contributed the highest total spend at NZD 3.8 billion, followed by the United States at NZD 1.9 billion and China at NZD 1.1 billion.

The leadership change comes as Tourism New Zealand continues to engage with the Indian travel trade and strengthen its presence in the market.