Forex earnings from tourism sector up at $1.7 bn in August

Foreign exchange earnings from tourist arrivals in India in August rose to $1.684 billion, up from $1.328 billion during August 2013 and $1.306 billion in August 2012, showing growth rates of 26.8 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively over August 2013 and August 2012.

For the January-August 2014 period, foreign exchange earnings from tourists stood at $12.739 billion, up 4.6 per cent compared to $12.178 billion in January-August 2013, which in turn showed a growth of 8.0 per cent over the corresponding period of 2012.

In rupee terms, foreign exchange earnings from tourism during August 2014 stood at Rs10,254 crore compared to Rs8,351 crore in August 2013 and Rs7,260 crore in August 2012, showing a growth rate of 22.8 per cent and 15.0 per cent, respectively.

For the January-August 2014 period, foreign exchange earnings from tourist arrivals in India stood at Rs77,350 crore with a growth of 12.8 per cent compared to forex earnings of Rs68,558 crore, which in turn grew 15.4 per cent during January-August 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012.

Foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in August 2014 stood at 5.69 lakh against 4.86 lakh during August 2013 and 4.46 lakh in August 2012.

There has been a growth of 16.9 per cent in August 2014 over August 2013 as compared to a growth of 9.1 per cent recorded in August 2013 over August 2012.

FTAs during January-August 2014 stood at 4.68 million, with a growth of 7.4 per cent, compared to the tourist arrivals of 4.36 million, which in turn showed a growth of 4.9 per cent during January-August 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012.

The percentage share of foreign tourists in India during August 2014 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (14.03 per cent), followed by USA (12.74 per cent), UK (9.22 per cent), Sri Lanka (6.79 per cent), Japan (3.56 per cent), France (3.18 per cent), Malaysia (3.09 per cent), Germany (2.79 per cent), UAE (2.42 per cent), Oman (2.28 per cent), Australia (2.28 per cent), Canada (2.22 per cent), China (2.14 per cent), Pakistan (2.11 per cent) and Nepal (2.10 per cent).