Foreign tourist inflow picking up: minister

Foreign tourist arrivals in the country based on airport data showed a marginal improvement in November 2009 as compared to that in October 2009 (-0.9 per cent) even as the numbers showed a fall at 5.18 lakh in November 2009 against 5.21 lakh during  November 2008 and 5.32 lakh in November 2007, minister of tourism Kumari Selja gave this information in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

During the January-November 2009 period, foreign tourist arrivals in the country stood at 4.54 million compared with 4.85 million in January-November 2008. However, the growth rate in tourist arrivals during January-November 2009 (-6.3 per cent) improved compared with the growth rate of (-) 7.0 per cent in Jan-October 2009.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism during November 2009 stood at Rs5,523 crore ($1,185 million) against Rs4,935 crore ($1,005 million) in November 2008. Foreign exchange earnings during January-November 2009 stood at Rs47,918 crore ($9,884 million) against Rs45,647 crore ($10,701 million) in January-November 2008.

PPP projects

Public-private partnership projects in the tourism sector are eligible for subsidy of up to Rs50 crore subject to a maximum of 25 per cent of total project cost or 50 per cent of equity contribution of the promoters, whichever is lower.

Projects like tourist trains, cruise vessels, cruise terminals, convention centers, golf courses etc would qualify for assistance, she said.