New Delhi. Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism compiles data on “domestic and foreign tourist visits to States/ UTs” received from Ministries/ Departments of Tourism of various State Governments and UT Administrations.

Following are the important highlights of data for 2009:

(a) Domestic Tourist Visits to Sates/ UTs

During 2009, the number of domestic tourist visits to the States/ UTs was 650 million as compared to 563 million in 2008 and 527 millions in 2007.

During 2009, the number of domestic tourist visits to States/UTs registered an increase of 15.5% over 2008 as compared to increase of 6.9% in 2008 over 2007.

The top ten States in terms of number of domestic tourist visits (in millions) during 2009 were Andhra Pradesh (157.5), Uttar Pradesh (134.8), Tamil Nadu (115.8), Karnataka (32.7), Rajasthan (25.6), Maharashtra (23.7), Madhya Pradesh (23.1), Uttarakhand (21.9), West Bengal (20.5) and Gujarat (15.9).

The contribution of top 10 States was about 88% to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2009. The percentage shares of top 5 States were Andhra Pradesh (24.2%), Uttar Pradesh (20.7%), Tamil Nadu (17.8%), Karnataka (5.0%) and Rajasthan (3.9%).

(b) Foreign Tourist visits to States/ UTs

During 2009, the number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to the States/ UTs was 13.7 million as compared to 14.1 million in 2008 and 13.3 million in 2007.

During 2009, the number of FTVs to States/UTs registered a decline of 2.8% over 2008 as compared to an increase of 6.4% in 2008 over 2007. This decline in FTVs is similar to the trend of the decline of 3.3% in the foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during 2009.

The top ten States in terms of number of FTVs (in millions) during 2009 were Tamil Nadu (2.37), Maharashtra (2.0), Delhi (1.96), Uttar Pradesh (1.53), West Bengal (1.18), Rajasthan (1.07), Andhra Pradesh (0.80), Kerala (0.55), Bihar (0.42) and Himachal Pradesh (0.40).

The contribution of top 10 States was about 90% to the total number of FTVs in the country during 2009. The percentage shares of top 5 States were Tamil Nadu (17.3%), Maharashtra (14.6%), Delhi (14.3%), Uttar Pradesh (11.25) and West Bengal (8.6%).

Data show that domestic tourism registered an impressive growth of 15.5% in 2009 inspite of economic recession and other adverse factors for tourism. On the contrary, FTAs and FTVs registered a decline of 3.3% and 2.8% respectively during the same period. This brings out the importance of domestic tourism in the overall tourism development in the country.