Upswing in tourist arrivals since February

Though foreign tourist arrivals declined in January this year due to the aftermath of the terror attacks in Mumbai during November 2008, India has been witnessing an increased inflow of tourists since the last two months, according to Madhu Dubey, deputy director-general, Union ministry of tourism.

“Right from 2004 to 2008, there has been a steady growth in foreign tourists visiting the country. The numbers started to improve from February this year. Hopefully, the figures for March will be better than what they were in February,” Dubey said. She was speaking at the two-day Asian Route Development Forum in Hyderabad on Sunday.

As per Centre's estimates, tourist arrivals during 2008 stood at 5.37 million, as compared with 5.08 million in 2007. Since India was not witnessing the recession in the same intensity as elsewhere, Indians are travelling at foreign destinations, she said.

“US tops the list of 10 foreign destinations for Indians. This development happened a year ago, courtesy the improved connectivity between the two nations. UK, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Sri Lanka, Germany, Japan, Australia and Malaysia stand next to the US, in that order,” she said, adding that markets like Latin America and Australia hold a lot of potential if connectivity improved.

According to Gordon Bevan, principal consultant, ASM, a leader in route development for airports, there is a phenomenal amount of competition in the tourism sector. Tourism needs air capacity, particularly in Asia, as the continent where, excepting India, there is a considerable amount of air capacity that is required to fulfil the ambitions of the national tourism organisations (NTOs), he added.

“When the good times come back after the recession, not all the business passengers come back. Airlines need to have the hunger for leisure passengers,” Bevan said.