Tourist arrivals in India fall 3 per cent in 2009; domestic tourism grows 15.5 per cent

The number of foreign tourists visiting various states and union territories in India registered a decline of 3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, since the onset of the global economic downturn. Domestic tourism, however, recorded an impressive growth of 15.5 per cent in 2009 and 6.9 per cent in 2008 despite the downturn.

During 2009, the number of foreign tourist visiting states and union territories stood at 13.7 million, down 2.8 per cent compared with 14.1 million in 2008 and 13.3 million in 2007, up 6.4 per cent from 2007, data compiled by the market research division of the ministry of tourism showed.

The top 10 states in terms of number of foreign tourist arrivals during 2009 were Tamil Nadu (2.37 million), Maharashtra (2 million), Delhi (1.96 million), Uttar Pradesh (1.53 million), West Bengal (1.18 million), Rajasthan (1.07 million), Andhra Pradesh (0.80 million), Kerala (0.55 million), Bihar (0.42 million) and Himachal Pradesh (0.40 million), data showed. 

The top 10 states contributed about 90 per cent to the total number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country during 2009. The percentage shares of top 5 states were: Tamil Nadu (17.3 per cent), Maharashtra (14.6 per cent), Delhi (14.3 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (11.25 per cent) and West Bengal (8.6 per cent).

Domestic tourism gains 

The number of domestic tourists visiting states and union territories within the country rose 15.5 per cent to around 650 million in 2009 from 563 million during the previous year and 527 millions in 2007.

Against this, the number of domestic tourist visits grew 6.9 per cent in 2008 compared with 2007, data showed.
 
The top ten states in terms of number of domestic tourist visits during 2009 were: Andhra Pradesh (157.5 million), Uttar Pradesh (134.8 million), Tamil Nadu (115.8 million), Karnataka (32.7 million), Rajasthan (25.6 million), Maharashtra (23.7 million), Madhya Pradesh (23.1 million), Uttarakhand (21.9 million), West Bengal (20.5 million) and Gujarat (15.9 million).

The top 10 states contributed about 88 per cent to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2009. Of this, the share of the top 5 states were: Andhra Pradesh (24.2 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (20.7 per cent), Tamil Nadu (17.8 per cent), Karnataka (5.0 per cent) and Rajasthan (3.9 per cent).