Lok Sabha Question No. 1804 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-13
Subject: Inflow of Foreign Tourists
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1804 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2023

## INFLOW OF FOREIGN TOURISTS

†1804 .SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number of foreign tourist arrivals  in  India  during  the  last three years and the preferred choice of the Indian destinations for the said tourists;
- (b) whether  there  has  been  a  decline  in  the  number  of  tourists arriving  in  India  during  the  last  few  years  and  if  so,  the effective steps being taken to increase the inflow of tourists; and
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  develop  more  tourist places in the country and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

THE MINISTER OF TOURISM

(a) & (b): The  details  of  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  (FTAs)  in  India during 2020 to 2022 is given below:

|                                                |   2020 |   2021 |   2022(P) |
|------------------------------------------------|--------|--------|-----------|
| Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India (in Million) |   2.74 |   1.52 |      6.19 |

P: Provisional; Source: Bureau of Immigration

There  has  been  a  decline  in  FTAs  in  India  during  pandemic. However, there has been a sharp increase in FTAs in India during year 2022 over year 2021 with a growth of 305.4%.

Ministry of Tourism does not maintain destination-wise data on tourist  visits.  However,  State-wise  Foreign  Tourist  Visits  (FTVs) during 2019, 2020 & 2021 are given at Annexure.

Ministry  of  Tourism  has  taken  several  steps/initiatives  to increase the inflow of tourists as per details given below:

- i. Launched  Swadesh  Darshan  Scheme  for  the  development  of tourism  related  infrastructure  in  the  country.  The  Ministry  of Tourism  has  revamped  its  Swadesh  Darshan  Scheme  as Swadesh  Darshan  2.0  (SD2.0)  with  the  objective  to  develop sustainable and responsible destinations following a tourist & destination centric approach.
- ii. Lunched  National  Mission  on  Pilgrimage  Rejuvenation  and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) Scheme for integrated development of identified pilgrimage destinations.
3. iii.
4. 24x7 toll free Multi-Lingual Tourist Helpline.
- iv. Providing  facility  of  e-Visa  for  5  sub-categories  i.e.  e-Tourist visa, e-Business visa, e-Medical visa, e-Medical Attendant visa and e-Conference visa for nationals of 165 countries.
- v. E-Visa has been further liberalized and the visa fee has been substantially reduced.
7. products  to attract  tourist  with  specific  interest  and  to  ensure  repeat visits for the unique products in which India has a comparative
- vi. Development  and  promotion  of 'Niche Tourism' advantage.
- vii. Promoting India as a holistic tourism destination including its various  tourism  sites  and  products  through Ministry's social media handles and website.
- viii. Conducting  Programmes  under  the 'Capacity Building for Service Providers' (CBSP) Scheme  to  train and up-grade manpower to provide better service standards.
- ix. New  mountain  peaks  have  been  opened  for  Mountaineering/ Trekking to give boost to adventure tourism in the country.
- x. Lowering  of  GST  on  hotels  rooms  with  tariffs  of ₹ 1,001  to ₹ 7,500/night  to  12%,  those  above ₹ 7,501  to  18%  to  increase India's competitiveness as a tourism destination.
- xi. On the recommendation of the Ministry of Tourism, 59 tourism routes  have  been  awarded  to  the  identified  airlines  by  the Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation  under  the  RCS  UDAN  Scheme,  for which Ministry of Tourism extends financial support in form of VGF  (Viability  Gap  Funding).  51  of  these  routes  have  been operationalized till date.

(c): Identification  and  development  of  tourist  places  is  primarily the responsibility of the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations.  However,  Ministry  of  Tourism  (MoT)  under  its Schemes of Swadesh Darshan, Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) and Assistance to Central  Agencies  provides  assistance  to  the  State  Governments/ Union Territory Administrations/Central Agencies for development of Tourism infrastructure in the country. The projects for development under  the  schemes  are  identified  in  consultation  with  the  State Governments/Union Territory  Administrations/Central  Agencies  and are sanctioned  subject  to  availability  of  funds,  submission  of suitable  detailed  project  reports,  adherence  to  scheme  guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier etc.

*****

## ANNEXURE

STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1804 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2023 REGARDING INFLOW OF FOREIGN TOURISTS.

## State-wise Foreign Tourist Visits (FTVs) in India during 2019, 2020 & 2021

|   Sl. No. | State/UT                  |   2019 FTVs |   2020 FTVs |   2021 FTVs |
|-----------|---------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|         1 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |       16206 |        5412 |        1687 |
|         2 | Andhra Pradesh            |      280356 |       67591 |       27551 |
|         3 | Arunachal Pradesh         |        7825 |         961 |         182 |
|         4 | Assam                     |       26878 |        7285 |         536 |
|         5 | Bihar                     |     1093141 |      308080 |        1046 |
|         6 | Chandigarh                |       44132 |       12218 |        5451 |
|         7 | Chhattisgarh              |        6817 |        2322 |           8 |
|         8 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli      |        1666 |         222 |          80 |
|         9 | Daman & Diu               |        5703 |        1382 |         105 |
|        10 | Delhi*                    |     2983436 |      681230 |      100178 |
|        11 | Goa                       |      937113 |      302751 |       22128 |
|        12 | Gujarat                   |      595607 |      210047 |       11319 |
|        13 | Haryana                   |       48046 |       17474 |        4578 |
|        14 | Himachal Pradesh          |      382876 |       42665 |        4932 |
|        15 | Jammu & Kashmir           |       57920 |        5317 |        1650 |
|        16 | Jharkhand                 |      176043 |         490 |        1637 |
|        17 | Karnataka                 |      608754 |      165325 |       72487 |
|        18 | Kerala                    |     1189771 |      340755 |       60487 |
|        19 | Lakshadweep               |         820 |         413 |           4 |
|        20 | Ladakh                    |       38652 |        1126 |        1054 |
|        21 | Madhya Pradesh            |      327958 |       99819 |       41601 |
|        22 | Maharashtra*              |     5528704 |     1262409 |      185643 |
|        23 | Manipur                   |       13608 |        3139 |         648 |
|        24 | Meghalaya                 |       25813 |        2311 |         411 |
|        25 | Mizoram                   |        2249 |         265 |         234 |
|        26 | Nagaland                  |        5577 |         518 |         325 |
|        27 | Odisha                    |      115128 |       10206 |        2269 |
|        28 | Puducherry                |      149919 |       92080 |         321 |
|        29 | Punjab                    |     1101343 |      359114 |      308135 |
|        30 | Rajasthan                 |     1605560 |      446457 |       34806 |
|        31 | Sikkim                    |      133388 |       19935 |       11508 |

| 32   | Tamil Nadu    |   6866327 |   1228323 |   57622 |
|------|---------------|-----------|-----------|---------|
| 33   | Telangana     |    323326 |     46694 |    5917 |
| 34   | Tripura       |    154405 |     31877 |       5 |
| 35   | Uttar Pradesh |   4745181 |    890932 |   44737 |
| 36   | Uttarakhand   |    152273 |     41339 |    8532 |
| 37   | West Bengal   |   1656145 |    463285 |   34828 |
|      | Total         |  31408666 |   7171769 | 1054642 |

Source: State/Union Territory Tourism Departments

*Data for FTVs for Delhi and Maharashtra have been estimated using All

India growth rate for that year. ******