Escalating airfares seem to be no deterrent for people from holidaying.
In fact, the tourism industry saw a splendid growth of 20 per cent in domestic tourism in 2012, the hot spot being Andhra Pradesh for domestic tourists and Maharashtra attracting more of foreign tourists.
Even as the number of foreign tourists visiting India increased in 2012, domestic tourism witnessed a huge growth. “During 2012, the number of foreign tourist visitors to India states/Union Territories was 20731498 as compared to 19.5 million in 2011, ministry data shows. On the other hand, the number of domestic visitors increased from 85 crore in 2011 to 102 crore in 2012,” reads the recent data by the ministry of tourism.
This means an increase in the growth rate by 20 per cent in 2012 as compared to 13.8 per cent in 2011 and 11.8 per cent in 2010.
Tourism minister K. Chiranjeevi’s home state Andhra Pradesh dislodged Uttar Pradesh and was found to be most popular state for domestic tourism with about 2,06,817,895 domestic visitors, followed by Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. In 2011, Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum domestic visitors, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
As far as foreign tourists are concerned, Maharashtra topped the chart followed by Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In 2011 too, Maharashtra witnessed the maximum tourist footfall.
Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, remained the favourite destination for both foreign and domestic visitors.
Jharkhand saw a maximum domestic growth rate of 89.15 per cent in 2012, followed by Lakshwadeep (53 per cent) and Nagaland (41 per cent).
Haryana recorded a splendid growth rate in foreign tourism at 78 per cent, followed by Jharkhand (55 per cent).
The tourism industry is one of the largest generators of employment across the world.
In India too, the travel and tourism sector is estimated to account for about 8 per cent of total employment.
“Despite slowdown in global economy, the splurge in the Indian tourism growth is a good sign,” said a senior official.