Ministry of Tourism has recorded a 13.6 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in December 2016 over the same period in 2015. Meanwhile, INR.16,805 crore foreign exchange was earned through tourism in December 2016.
FTAs during the December, 2016 were marked at 10.37 lakh as compared to 9.13 lakh during December, 2015 and 8.85 lakh in December, 2014, recording a 13.6 per cent gowth. Whereas, FTAs during the period of January-December, 2016 were 88.90 lakh with a growth of 10.7 per cent as compared to 80.27 lakh with a growth of 4.5 per cent in January-December, 2015 over the same period in 2014.
The percentage share of FTAs in India during December, 2016 among the top 15 source countries was highest from the USA (18.33 per cent) followed by , Bangladesh (13.02 per cent), the UK (11.71 per cent), Australia (5.43 per cent), Russia (4.18 per cent), Canada (4.13 per cent), Malaysia (3.38 per cent), Germany (2.80 per cent), China (2.53 per cent), Sri Lanka (2.25 per cent), Singapore (2.12 per cent), France (2.01 per cent), Japan (1.79 per cent), Afghanistan (1.38 per cent) and Nepal (1.34 per cent).
The percentage share of FTAs among the top 15 ports was led by Delhi Airport (27.77 per cent), followed by Mumbai Airport (19.80 per cent), Haridaspur Land check post (7.16 per cent), Chennai Airport (7.13 per cent), Goa Airport (5.64 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (5.43 per cent), Kolkata Airport (4.31 per cent), Cochin Airport (4.17 per cent), Hyderabad Airport (3.42 per cent), Ahmadabad Airport (3.11 per cent), Trivandrum Airport (1.81 per cent), Gede Rail (1.59 per cent), Trichy Airport (1.59 per cent), Amritsar Airport (1.06 per cent), and Gaya Airport (0.84 per cent).
FEEs during December, 2016 were recorded at INR 16,805 crore as compared to INR 14,152 crore in December, 2015, with a growth of 18.7 per cent. Wheras, FEEs from tourism in during January-December, 2016 were INR 1,55,650 crore with a growth of 15.1 per cent as compared to INR 1,35,193 crore with a growth of 9.6 per cent during January-December, 2015 over January-December, 2014.
