Maharashtra topped an all-India annual ranking on travel and tourism, conducted by hospitality consultant HVS for the year 2010-11. Goa was second, followed by Delhi.
Some of the criteria include tourist arrivals, expenditure on tourism, presence of branded hotels, marketing campaigns, urbanisation, road and rail infrastructure and aircraft movement, among others. While Maharashtra scored high on all counts, rising from the fourth rank in 2009 to the top slot, Delhi was relatively weaker on marketing effort, state expenditure on tourism and luxury tax on hotel rooms.
Goa needs to improve, said the study, in certain intangible areas like safety and security. The survey also noted that Goa remains a difficult market from a developer's point of view. The state also scored very low on airport infrastructure. However, the survey said that irrespective of how much a hotel developer or investor may complain about the state, Goa remains a strong market from the demand perspective.
| TOURIST INFLOW | |||
| Top 10 destinations (million) | |||
| Foreign | Domestic | ||
| Maharashtra | 5.10 | Andhra Pradesh | 155.80 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2.80 | Uttar Pradesh | 144.80 |
| Delhi | 1.90 | Tamil Nadu | 111.60 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1.70 | Maharashtra | 48.50 |
| Rajasthan | 1.30 | Karnataka | 38.20 |
| West Bengal | 1.20 | Madhya Pradesh | 38.10 |
| Kerala | 0.66 | Uttarakhand | 30.20 |
| Bihar | 0.64 | Rajasthan | 25.50 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0.45 | West Bengal | 21.10 |
| Goa | 0.44 | Gujarat | 18.90 |
| Source: Ministry of Tourism/PTI | |||
Tamil Nadu dropped from the number one position in 2009 to the fourth place this year. While it continued to do well in tourist arrivals, branded hotel rooms, road and rail infrastructure, the state has reduced its budgetary provisions for travel and tourism. The state also scored low on luxury tax.
Karnataka has been one of the largest gainers, moving up from the 12th position in 2009 to the top five. The fifth place is primarily due to two reasons: the state's expenditure on travel and tourism, and an effective marketing campaign.
The state increased its budgetary spending on travel and tourism from 0.03 per cent of the total in 2009-10 to 0.22 per cent in 2010-11.
Andhra Pradesh, in the 15th place, took a hit because of the ongoing Telangana dispute and high-risk security concerns.
Among other Indian states, the biggest fall was seen in the ranking of Arunachal Pradesh, at 22nd due to budgetary cuts on the tourism sector.
Uttar Pradesh and Haryana moved up in the ranking to 12th and 16th place, respectively. While UP performed poorly on most grounds, it scored due to tax-friendly policies and a high number of domestic tourist arrivals. Haryana's ranking improved due to the surge in hotel inventory in Gurgaon. The survey said both states need to improve their socio-economic indicators in the light of the hotel investments being made.
