Ministry of Tourism, Government of India have witnessed a 2.4 per cent growth of foreign tourist arrivals between January- April, 2015 as compared to last year. Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of nationality-wise, port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India. The following are the highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism during the month of April 2015.
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):
• FTAs during the Month of April 2015 were 5.40 lakh as compared to FTAs of 5.37 lakh during the month of April 2014 and 4.51 lakh in April 2013. There has been a growth of 0.5 per cent in April 2015 over April 2014.
• FTAs during the period January- April 2015 were 28.21 lakh with a growth of 2.7 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 27.47 lakh in January- April 2014.
• The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during April 2015 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (15.66 per cent), followed by USA (12.55 per cent), UK (10.32 per cent) Sri Lanka (3.99 per cent), Malaysia (3.27 per cent), Australia (3.14 per cent), France (2.95 per cent), Germany (2.95 per cent), Japan (2.91 per cent), China (2.88 per cent), Canada (2.72 per cent), Singapore (1.89 per cent) Pakistan (1.83 per cent), Nepal (1.82 per cent) and Russian Fed. (1.75 per cent). These top 15 countries account for 70.63 per cent of total FTAs during April 2015.
• The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during April 2015 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (30.35 per cent) followed by Mumbai Airport (17.79 per cent), Haridaspur Land check post (8.71 per cent), Chennai Airport (8.50 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (6.50 per cent), Kolkata Airport (3.86 per cent),Cochin Airport (3.76 per cent), Hyderabad Airport (2.89 per cent), Gede Rail (1.90 per cent), Goa Airport (1.72 per cent), Trivandrum Airport (1.69 per cent), Ahmedabad Airport (1.44 per cent), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.32 per cent), Ghojadanga Airport (1.21 per cent) and Attari Wagha (1.15 per cent). These top 15 ports account for 92.79 per cent of total FTAs during April 2015.
Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from Tourism in India in rupee terms and in US$ terms
• FEEs during the month of April 2015 were INR 9,438 crore as compared to INR 8,645 crore in April 2014.
• The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms during April 2015 over April 2014 was 9.2 per cent.
• FEEs from tourism in rupee terms in January- April 2015 were INR 42,474 crore with a growth of 3.3 per cent as compared to the FEE of INR 41,118 crore during January- April 2014.
• FEEs in US$ terms during the month of April 2015 were US$ 1.505 billion as compared to FEEs of US$ 1.431 billion during the month of April 2014.
• The growth rate in FEEs in US$ terms in April 2015 over April 2014 was 5.2 per cent.
• FEEs from tourism in US$ terms during January- April 2015 were US$ 6.815 billion with a growth of two per cent as compared to the US$ 6.684 billion with a decline of 4.2 per cent during January- April 2014 over January- April 2013.