8.91 Lakh Foreign Tourists Visited India in November 2016

New Delhi: 8.91 lakh foreign tourists visited India in November this year, a growth of 9.3 per cent over the same month last year, indicating that demonetisation move did not impact the tourists footfall adversely.

Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during November 2015 was 8.16 lakh, while it was 7.65 lakh in November 2014.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism during the month of November were Rs 14,474 crore as compared to Rs 12,649 crore in the same month last year, recording a growth of 14.4 per cent.

The US accounted for highest share of tourist arrivals followed by the UK and Bangladesh in November 2016, according to an official release.

FTAs during January-November, 2016 were 78.53 lakh, recording a growth of 10.4 per cent as compared to 71.14 lakh during the corresponding period last year.

FEEs from tourism in January-November were Rs 1,38,845 crore, witnessing an increase of 14.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 1,21,041 crore during the corresponding period last year.

Among the top 15 source countries in November, share of the US was highest with 15.53 per cent, followed by the UK (11.21 per cent), Bangladesh (10.72 per cent), Canada (4.66 per cent), Russia (4.53 per cent), Australia (4.04 per cent) and Malaysia (3.65 per cent).

The share of Germany was 3.53 per cent, while that of China 3.14 per cent, France 2.88 per cent, Sri Lanka 2.49 per cent, Japan 2.49 per cent, Singapore 2.16 per cent, Nepal 1.46 per cent and Thailand 1.37 per cent.

Among the top 15 ports, the share of Delhi Airport was highest with 32.71 per cent, followed by Mumbai Airport (18.51 per cent), Chennai Airport (6.83 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (5.89 per cent), Haridaspur Land check post (5.87 per cent), Goa Airport (5.63 per cent), Kolkata Airport (3.90 per cent) and Cochin Airport (3.29 per cent).

The share of Hyderabad Airport was 3.14 per cent, while that of Ahmadabad Airport (2.76 per cent), Trivandrum Airport

(1.54 per cent), Trichy Airport (1.53 per cent), Gede Rail (1.16 per cent), Amritsar Airport (1.15 per cent), and Ghojadanga land check post (0.82 per cent).