While tourism numbers have steadily grown in the recent months, high numbers from countries which contribute significantly lesser to the domestic revenue than compared to, say travellers from Europe and North Americas is something that is becoming a growing trend which needs to be looked into and addressed. For now, the trend seems to continue and the latest statement released by the ministry affirms it.
According to the latest communique by the tourism ministry, though inbound numbers have registered a healthy upswing of 18.8 percent in September, compared to the previous year. Source countries, however, continue to be dominated by neighbouring Asian countries, with the exception of USA and the UK. Incidentally, government’s backed e-visa scheme is finding more and more takers, as e-visa numbers have seen an upward tick, too. In terms of numbers, the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India in September 2017 stood at 7.23 lakh as compared to 6.08 lakh in September 2016 and 5.43 lakh in September 2015, the ministry has stated.
Bangladesh continues to be the top inbound source country, and registered a substantial 30 percent of the total numbers. The United States stands at the second spot and accounted for 10.24 percent of the total inbound in the month. The United Kingdom accounted for 7.4 percent and ranked third in terms of numbers, while Australia and Sri Lanka rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
A key aviation hub, Delhi airport continues to be the busiest airport and catered to almost 29 per cent share of FTAs in September, followed by Haridaspur Land Check Post which oversaw 16.06 per cent of total footfalls. Mumbai and Chennai airport managed 13.57 per cent and 6.56 per cent footfalls, respectively, and ranked behind Delhi and Haridaspur.
“The growth rate in FTAs in September 2017 over September 2016 is 18.8 per cent, compared to 12.1 per cent in September 2016 over September 2015,” the ministry has said in a statement.
