Bihar registers 68.95 lakh tourists

In an indication of Bihar's emergernce as a premier tourist destination in the country, the state received 68.95 lakh tourists till August this year, an official said today.
Of the total number of tourists visiting Bihar in the first eight months of this year, a staggering 64.95 lakh comprised domestic tourists, while the number of foreign tourists stood at four lakh, the Principal Secretary (Tourism) B Pradhan told reporters.
The numbers will increase significanly after compilation of data of footfalls till December this year, he said.
Bihar had received 22.5 lakh tourists last year which more than double the number of footfalls in 2007, he said.

In order to woo domestic and foreign tourists, the tourism department has launched a massive publicity campaign about development of infrastructures, the Buddhist, Jain, Ramayan, Shakti and Sikh circuits, the official said.
The campaign contained details of information about roads to the tourist places and and beautification and renovation of such sites, which were posted on websites, he said.
A number of projects have been sent to the Union Tourism Ministry for approval, including that for develoment of cultural village and facilities for tourists at Nalanda at a cost of Rs 27.79 crore, Pradhan said.