An increase of around 11 per cent was registered in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in the country in August compared to the same period last year.
The number of FTAs in August was 7.24 lakh as compared to 6.52 lakh in August 2016 and 5.99 lakh in August 2015, a ministry of tourism release said today.
"The growth rate in FTAs in August, 2017 over August, 2016 is 11.0 per cent compared to 8.8 per cent in August, 2016 over August, 2015," the ministry said.
Tourists from Bangladesh (21.26 per cent) topped the list of visitors followed by the US (11.60 per cent), the UK (9.46 per cent), Sri Lanka (6.41 per cent), Malaysia (3.71 per cent) and Japan (2.74 per cent).
The Delhi airport with almost 30 per cent share of FTAs remained the busiest followed by Mumbai airport (15.49 per cent), Haridaspur land check post (12.06 per cent), Chennai airport (9.37 per cent)and Bengaluru airport (6.36 per cent), it said.
The ministry compiles monthly estimates of FTAs, including those with e-tourist visas on the basis of their nationality and port, courtesy the data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
The statement said April also saw a substantial rise in the number of tourists arriving on e-visas.
"During the month of August, 2017 total of 1.13 lakh tourist arrived on e-tourist visa as compared to 0.66 lakh during the month of August 2016 registering a growth of 71.3 per cent," said the ministry.
Most tourists with e-visas used the Delhi airport (44.1 pc)as their port of arrival, followed by Mumbai airport (19.5 pc, Chennai airport (8.9 pc), Kochi airport (7.2 pc), Bengaluru airport (7.0 pc), Hyderabad airport (3.8 pc), Kolkata airport (1.9 pc), Trivandrum airport (1.5 pc).
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