Lok Sabha Question No. 1649 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-02
Subject: Scheme to Attract Foreign Tourists
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta, Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Ramdas Chandrabhanji Tadas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†1649

## LOK SABHA ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020

## SCHEME TO ATTRACT FOREIGN TOURISTS

## †1649. SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA:

DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN: SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  number  of  foreign  tourists  has  sharply  declined during the last three years;
- (b) if so, the month-wise and country-wise details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of the top ten tourist destinations preferred by foreign tourists in India and the effective steps taken by the Government to  improve  the  quality  and  infrastructure  facilities  in  these tourist destinations;
- (d) whether the Government has formulated any scheme to attract foreign tourists and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the time by which the said measures are likely to be implemented?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) & (b): Foreign Tourist Arrivals (in  Million)  during  2017,  2018  and 2019  were  10.04,  10.56  and  10.89  (provisional)  respectively.  Thus there has been no decline in Foreign Tourist Arrivals to India during the last three years.

(c), (d) & (e): Destinations wise tourist visits is not centrally maintained in the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. However, details of top 10 States in terms of Foreign Tourist Visits (FTV) during 2018 are given below:

|   Sr. no. | State      |   FTV during 2018 (Revised) |
|-----------|------------|-----------------------------|
|         1 | Tamil Nadu |                     6074345 |

|   2 | Maharashtra*   |   5078514 |
|-----|----------------|-----------|
|   3 | Uttar Pradesh  |   3780752 |
|   4 | Delhi *        |   2740502 |
|   5 | Rajasthan      |   1754348 |
|   6 | West Bengal    |   1617105 |
|   7 | Punjab         |   1200969 |
|   8 | Kerala         |   1096407 |
|   9 | Bihar          |   1087971 |
|  10 | Goa            |    933841 |

*Data for 2017 is repeated for 2018.

Development  of  tourist  spots  and  improvement  of  infrastructure quality, is primarily the responsibility of the concerned State Government/Union Territory Administration. However, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India under its schemes of Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD  and  Assistance  to  Central  Agencies,  provides  central financial  assistance  to  State  Governments/Union  Territories/Central Agencies  for development  of tourism related infrastructure and facilities to provide an enriching tourism experience to visitors which would result in attracting more foreign tourist to India. The projects under the schemes are identified for development in consultation with State  Governments/UT  Administration  and  are  sanctioned  subject  to availability  of  funds.  Projects  under  the  schemes  are  under  various stages of implementation.

Further,  Ministry  of  tourism  has  taken  various  steps  to  attract foreign tourist in the country, which inter-alia include the following:

-  Extended E- Visa facility to citizens of several countries.
-  The  Incredible  India  2.0  campaign  launched  with  market specific promotional plans and content creation.
-  24x7  Toll  Free  Multi-Lingual  Tourist  Helpline  1800111363 launched in 10 International Languages and Hindi & English.
-  Organization of biennial International Buddhist Conclave.
-  Organization of Annual International Tourism Mart for promotion of tourism in North Eastern States.
-  Promotion of activities in tourist generating markets overseas through the India Tourism Offices abroad with active participation in International Tourism Events.

*******