More tourists visited Bihar despite prohibition: CM

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said prohibition in Bihar had not affected the state tourism sector as the number of visitors, both domestic and from abroad, had registered an increase.

He dismissed as "baseless and useless propaganda" reports and claims that tourist arrivals in the eastern state had gone down after total prohibition from April 2016. "It is far from the truth."

"Bihar has proved once again that tourists in large number visited the state despite total prohibition. It is a case study for other states."

Contrary to opposition claims, Bihar recorded a 68 per cent increase in domestic tourists and nine per cent from abroad after prohibition was enforced, Nitish Kumar told the media here.

Quoting figures, he said 1.69 crore domestic tourists visited Bihar in 2015, compared with 2.85 crore in 2016. Similarly, 9.2 lakh foreign tourists visited Bihar in 2015, compared with about 10.01 lakh in 2016.

The Chief Minister said tourists, including those from abroad, do not visit tourist places in Bihar only to drink alcohol.

--IANS

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