Tamil Nadu remains top tourist destination in the country in 2015

State tops in both domestic (333.5 mn) and foreign (4.68 mn) visits; UP and Maharashtra take second spot in domestic and foreign, respectively

Tamil Nadu has retained its position as the country's top tourist destination in terms of visits, both domestic and foreign, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Tourism. The total domestic tourist visits to the States and Union Territories in the country increased by 11.63 per cent, while total foreign tourist visits were up 4.4 per cent in 2015, compared to the previous year.

According to the compiled by the Market Research Division of the Ministry of Tourism on domestic and foreign tourist visits to States/Union Territories (UTs) received from Departments of Tourism of various State Governments and UT Administrations, Tamil Nadu has registered 333.5 million domestic tourist visits in 2015. It was followed by Uttar Pradesh (204.9 million), Andhra Pradesh (121.6 million), Karnataka (119.9 million), Maharashtra (103.4 million), Telangana (94.5 million), Madhya Pradesh (78 million), West Bengal (70.2 million), Gujarat(36.3 million) and Rajasthan (35.2 million).

The contribution of top 10 States was about 83.62 per cent to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2015. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh maintained the first and second rank respectively in terms of domestic tourist visits in 2015, while Andhra Pradesh took the third spot, leaving Karnataka and Maharashtra at the fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have retained their previous rankings at sixth, seventh and eighth. Gujarat, showing significant improvement, rose to ninth rank, leaving Rajasthan at the tenth and causing Jharkhand to slip out of the top 10 most visited states, said the ministry.

During 2015, the number of foreign tourist visits to the States/ UTs was 23.3 million as compared to 22.3 million in 2014 registering a growth of 4.4 per cent over 2014. The top ten States in terms of number of foreign tourist visits during 2015 were Tamil Nadu (4.68 million), Maharashtra (4.41 million), Uttar Pradesh (3.1 million), Delhi (2.38 million), West Bengal(1.49 million), Rajasthan(1.48 million), Kerala(0.98 million), Bihar(0.92 million), Karnataka(0.64 million) and Goa(0.54 million).

The contribution of top 10 States was about 88.4 per cent to the total number of foreign tourist visits in the country during 2015. In 2015, while the top four states retained their previous rankings, West Bengal improved by one rank to leave Rajasthan at sixth rank. Kerala, Bihar and Karnataka retained their ranks at seventh, eighth and ninth and Goa re-entered the top 10 most visited states causing Haryana to drop out of the ranks, it added.