India Witnesses Huge Increase In Foreign Visitors

India’s mystical history and natural beauty continues to charm foreigners. The country witnessed a substantial rise in the foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in August 2014. According to a report by the tourism ministry, India recorded 5.69 lakh FTA last month as against 4.86 lakh in August 2013 and 4.46 lakh in August 2012.

“There has been a growth of 16.9% in August 2014 over August 2013 as compared to a growth of 9.1% registered in August 2013 over August 2012,” said the report.

The ministry also noted that nearly 46.84 lakh foreign tourists had arrived between January and August this year, registering a growth of 7.4% over the same period in 2013 (43.60 lakh FTA).

Interestingly, while the US and UK continued to be one of the top source countries for India, some of the new countries that showed interest in India includes Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE and Oman. “…The top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (14.03%), followed by USA (12.74%), UK (9.22%), Sri Lanka (6.79%), Japan (3.56%), France (3.18%), Malaysia (3.09%), Germany (2.79%), UAE (2.42%), Oman (2.28%), Australia (2.28%), Canada (2.22%), China (2.14%), Pakistan (2.11%) and Nepal (2.10%),” states the report.

In terms of Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism, India earned Rs 10, 254 crore ($1.684 billion) in August itself as compared to Rs 8,351 crore ($1.328 billion) in August 2013 and Rs 7,260 crore ($1.306 billion) in August 2012.

India recorded a growth of 22.8% in FEEs in rupee terms in August 2014 over August 2013, which had registered 15% growth over August 2012. While the growth rate in FEEs in American dollar terms in August 2014 was 26.8% as compared to a meagre growth rate of 1.7% in August 2013 over August 2012.

“The FEE from tourism in rupee terms during January-August 2014 was Rs 77,350 crore with a growth of 12.8%, as compared to the FEE of Rs 68,558 crore with a growth of 15.4% during January-August 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012. While the FEE from tourism in terms of dollars during January-August 2014 were $12.739 billion with a growth of 4.6%, as compared to $12.178 billion with a growth of 8.0% during January-August 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012”, the ministry noted in its report.

Surprisingly, the growth has been recorded despite spurt in crime against foreign tourists. Earlier, industry players feared that the rising crime rate would keep foreign tourists away from the country, but tourism ministry ran a slew of campaigns centred on the foreign tourists’ safety, which seems to have done the magic.