8.4% growth in foreign tourist arrivals in January 2018: Govt

The percentage share of FTAs in India during January 2018 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh followed by USA

The number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India saw an 8.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump, the Ministry of Tourism stated.

As per the data, the number of FTAs in January 2018 was 1.06 million, compared to 900,000 in January 2017 and 800,000 in January 2016.

The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during January 2018 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (16.36 percent) followed by USA (14.10 percent), UK (10.81 percent), Canada (4.63 percent), Russian Federation (4.49 percent), Australia (3.60 percent), France (2.76 percent), Afghanistan (1.86 percent) and Nepal (1.59 percent).

Meanwhile, the percentage share of FTAs in India during January 2018 among the top 15 airports saw Delhi Airport (28.03 percent) in first place, followed by Mumbai Airport (17.47 percent), Chennai Airport (7.17 percent), Goa (6.19 percent), Bengaluru Airport (5.16 percent), Kolkata Airport (4.81 percent), Cochin Airport (3.77 percent), and Amritsar Airport (1.01 percent).

During the month of January 2018, a total of 240,000 foreign tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 152,000 million during the month of January 2017 registering a growth of 58.5 percent.

The percentage share of top 15 source countries availing e- Tourist Visa facilities during January, 2018 was UK (18.6 percent), USA (10.6 percent), France (5.4 percent), Canada (5.3 percent), China (4.8 percent), Oman (3.4 percent), Italy (2.4 percent), Israel (1.4 percent) and South Africa (1.4 percent).

In terms of airports, the percentage of FTAs on e-Tourist Visa during January 2018 was highest from New Delhi Airport (37.3 percent), Mumbai Airport (19.6 percent), Chennai Airport (7.2 percent), Bengaluru Airport (5.7 percent), Kolkata Airport (2.7 percent) and Ahmadabad Airport (1.6 percent).

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