Domestic, foreign tourist visits record big growth in 2015

The flow of domestic tourists to various states and union territories increased to 1.43 billion during 2015 from 1.28 billion in 2014, recording a year-on-year growth of 11.63 per cent, figures released by the ministry of tourism showed.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in various states and union territories during 2015 stood at 23.3 million compared with 22.3 million in 2014, posting a growth of 4.4 per cent year-on-year.

The top 10 states in terms of number of domestic tourist visits during 2015, were Tamil Nadu (333.5 million), Uttar Pradesh (204.9 million), Andhra Pradesh (121.6 million), Karnataka (119.9 million), Maharashtra (103.4 million), Telangana (94.5 million), Madhya Pradesh (78 million), West Bengal (70.2 million), Gujarat (36.3 million) and Rajasthan (35.2 million), figures showed.

The top ten states contributed about 83.62 per cent of the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2015.

Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have maintained the first and second rank, respectively, in terms of DTVs in 2015. Andhra Pradesh has gained the third position leaving Karnataka and Maharashtra at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have retained their previous rankings at sixth, seventh and eighth places.

Gujarat, showing significant improvement, has risen to rank ninth leaving Rajasthan at the tenth and causing Jharkhand to slip out of the top 10 most visited states.

The top ten states in terms of number of foreign tourist arrivals during 2015 were Tamil Nadu (4.68 million), Maharashtra (4.41 million), Uttar Pradesh (3.1 million), Delhi (2.38 million), West Bengal (1.49 million), Rajasthan(1.48 million), Kerala (0.98 million), Bihar (0.92 million), Karnataka (0.64 millon) and Goa (0.54 million).

The top 10 states contributed about 88.4 per cent to the total number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country during 2015.

While the top 4 states retained their previous rankings, West Bengal improved its position by one rank to leave Rajasthan at sixth rank. Kerala, Bihar and Karnataka retained their ranks at seventh, eighth and ninth and Goa re-entered the top 10 most visited states causing Haryana to drop out of the ranks.