By IANS,
New Delhi : For the third year in a row, Andhra Pradesh with its pilgrim spots remains a hit with domestic tourists while Delhi continues to enjoy the tag of the Indian city most visited by foreigners.
Latest figures from the tourism ministry show that the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, known for its renowned Tirumala Tirupati shrine and other temples, drew the maximum domestic tourists compared to other states.
In 2008, a record 132.6 million people visited the state, as compared to 127 million in 2007, which in turn was a 14 percent increase from 2006, officials said.
Delhi also saw a major jump in its tourist figures in 2008 as far as foreign travellers are concerned. Over 2.3 million foreigners visited the national capital last year as compared to 2.01 million in 2007 and 1.9 million in 2006.
Uttar Pradesh too was a popular destination for three consecutive years. Last year, an estimated 124.8 million tourists visited the state, as compared to 105.5 million in 2007 and 116 million in 2006.
The other states that were a hit with domestic travellers last year were Tamil Nadu (over 98 million), Rajasthan (over 28 million), Madhya Pradesh (over 22 million), Maharashtra (over 20 million), Uttarakhand (20 million), West Bengal (over 19 million), Gujarat (15 million) and Karnataka (over 12 million).
These top 10 states accounted for 88 percent of the total domestic tourists’ visit in 2008. The figures were collected from hotels and other accommodations by the ministry of tourism, an official told IANS.
Besides Delhi, foreigners favoured Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. These were the states that were most visited by tourists in 2007 too.
While Maharashtra drew over two million foreign tourists last year, in the previous year the figure was 1.9 million. Similarly, in 2008 about two million foreigners visited Tamil Nadu as compared to 1.7 million in 2007.
Uttar Pradesh drew 1.6 million foreign visitors in 2008, while 1.49 million had come to the state in 2007.
However, Rajasthan received the same number of foreign travellers — about 1.4 million – as in the previous year.
The top 10 states accounted for about 90 percent of the total foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2008. About 5.37 million foreigners visited India in 2008 as compared to 5.08 million in 2007.
The other favoured states were West Bengal (1.1 million), Andhra Pradesh (789,180), Kerala (598,929), Himachal Pradesh (376,736) and Goa (351,123).