Foreign tourist arrivals in India total 5.11 million in 2009

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during 2009 in India were 5.11 million, down 3.3 per cent from the number of 5.28 million achieved in 2008. FTAs had recorded a growth rate of 4 per cent in 2008.

An official press release said that the growth rate for 2009 was negative, India's performance was still better than the decline of 6 to 4 pe cent forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for the world.

According to it, the FTAs during December, 2009 were 6.46 lakh as compared to FTAs of 5.34 lakh in the same month of 2008 and 5.97 lakh in 2007. The growth rate in FTAs in December 2009 over December 2008 works out to 21 per cent, which is the highest positive growth registered in any month of 2009.

The Foreign Exchange Earnings from tourism in rupee terms were Rs 54,960 crore as compared to Rs 50,730 crore in 2008. This worked out to a growth rate of 8.3 per cent as compared to 2008, and 14.4 per cent during 2008 as compared to 2007.

The FEE during 2009 were $ 11.39 billion as compared to $ 11.75 billion during 2008, which worked out to a decline of 3 per cent over 2008. The growth was 9.5 per cent in 2008 over 2007.

The FEE in rupee terms during December, 2009 were Rs 7042 crore as compared to Rs 5083 crore in the same month of 2008 and Rs 5079 crore in December 2007. In dollar terms, the FEE was $ 1.510 billion in December, 2009 as compared to $ 1.046 billion in December, 2008 and $ 1.287 billion in the same month of 2007, the release added.

NNN