Rajasthan saw over 200 mn tourists till Nov, including 1.9 mn foreigners

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Rajasthan saw an uptick in tourism last year with more than 200 million tourists, including 1.9 million foreigners, visiting the desert state famous for its forts, palaces, heritage, art, and culture from January to November.

 

According to the tourism department's data, this figure is expected to cross 215 million after including the December footfall, up by almost 52 million from the 2023 figure of over 162.8 million. Experts in the tourism sector say that more than 15 million tourists visited the state in December.

 

Experts expect the tourism boom to continue till March as festivals like Makar Sankranti and Holi will attract domestic and foreign tourists to the state.

 

Tourism expert Sanjay Kaushik, who also runs an inbound tour and travel agency, said Rajasthan is not just about forts and havelis, and has also become an attractive destination for wildlife, religious and rural tourism.

 

“Staying in the news helps a lot in boosting tourism of any state. The state is constantly in the news internationally due to events like the Rising Rajasthan, a global investment summit held in December, the Jaipur Literature Festival to be held later this month, and the upcoming IIFA Awards in March. It helps increase the number of tourists,” said Kaushik.

 

Hotel Federation of Rajasthan President Hussain Khan said that December was the peak month for tourism in Rajasthan.

 

“We estimate that around 1.5 crore tourists have come to the state in December, which is a record. After the pandemic, the number of tourists in the state has been increasing continuously. People who were confined to their homes and cities for three years are now inclined towards travelling and they are constantly going out,” he said.

 

A large number of tourists this time reached Rajasthan for the celebration of New Year. According to data from the tourism department, on December 30, about 50,000 tourists arrived in Jaipur, 60,000 in Udaipur, 45,000 in Mount Abu, and about 65,000 in Jaisalmer.

 

“More or less the same inflow will remain till the first week of January. A large number of tourists are coming from Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. The number of South Indian tourists is also increasing,” Khan said.