 "India to host 9 mn foreign tourists")
Demonetisation has not taken away the sheen away from the country's fast-growing inbound tourism sector. Foreign tourist arrivals for the month of November have grown by more than nine per cent year-on-year to 8,90,000 visitors, the highest during any month in 2016. The growth is much better than last November's increase of 6.5 per cent.
The number of travellers from top source countries such as the US and UK has shown strong growth. The Unites States, the biggest source market for the month, grew 7.7 per cent to 1,38,300 visitors, while UK, another major source market grew 11.4 per cent to 99,000 visitors. At 8,90,000 international visitors, November is the best-performing month of the year so far. The months from October till March are strong growth months for foreign tourist arrivals in India. India does not include non-resident Indians (NRIs) while counting tourist arrivals from abroad.
Industry experts said since these are high-value travels, foreign tourists prefer to make plans two or three months prior to the travel date. Therefore, the impact of demonetisation, if any, will not be immediate. "International guests secure their flight bookings well in advance. In the short-term, their arrivals will not show any impact. We will have to wait for another couple of months to see any change in pattern," said Raj Rana, chief executive officer (South Asia) at international hotel company Carlson Rezidor, which operates 82 hotels in India under brands like Radisson and Park Plaza.
The government withdrew high denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from circulation on November 9, stating it will help curb black money in the economy. This restricted the cash flow in the economy significantly in November and the situation is yet to normalise. Most sectors of the economy have taken a hit.
Sharat Dhall, president of online travel agency Yatra, said he did not see 'too many' cancellations by inbound travellers post demonetisation. "Fresh bookings also continue to grow. Foreign tourists are comfortable using credit cards and online payment modes. Upon arrival, they arrange local currency at airports. Arrivals do not seem to be impacted," he said.
During the January-November period, arrivals grew 10.4 per cent to 7.85 million visitors, against a low growth of 4.7 per cent in same period of 2015. However, India will not reach the nine million foreign visitor mark this calendar year as was being anticipated earlier.
Tourists are a major source of foreign exchange earnings too. The tourism ministry said foreign exchange earnings from tourism grew by 9.1 per cent to $20.67 billion in the eleven months of this calendar year.
