Foreign tourist footfall up by 7.3 pc

Foreign tourist arrivals have recorded a growth of 7.3 per cent in June as compared to the same period last year with 5.50 lakh visitors coming to India, the government said today.
The rise in tourist footfall led to a growth of 12.2 per cent in foreign exchange earnings from tourism.
Among the top 15 source countries, the US accounted for the highest share at 22.20 per cent, followed by Bangladesh (20.69 per cent), the UK (6.84 per cent), Malaysia (3.90 per cent), Sri Lanka (3.20 per cent), Australia (2.63 per cent) and China (2.62 per cent).
Canada's share was 2.60 per cent, while that of Japan 2.49 per cent, Singapore 2.47 per cent, France 2.35 per cent, Germany 2.26 per cent, Nepal 2.17 per cent, Pakistan 1.33 per cent and Korea 1.31 per cent.

During January-June, as many as 41.86 lakh overseas tourists arrived in the country, recording a 8.9 per cent rise over the corresponding period last year.
Last year, foreign tourist arrivals in June stood at 5.12 lakhs and the figure for January-June period was 38.45 lakhs.

In June, foreign exchange earnings from tourism were to the tune of Rs 10,732 crore as compared to Rs 9,564 crore in the same month last year.
During January-June, foreign exchange earnings from tourism were Rs 73,065 crore with a growth of 14.1 per cent as compared to Rs 64,035 crore during the corresponding period last year.

The Delhi airport welcomed the highest share of foreign tourists in June at 24.69 per cent, followed by Mumbai airport 16.76 per cent, Haridaspur Land check post 11.99 per cent, Chennai airport 10.90 per cent, Bengaluru airport 7.74 per cent, Hyderabad airport 4.95 per cent and Kolkata airport 4.09 per cent.