Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism compiles data on domestic and foreign tourist visits to States/Union Territories (UTs) received from Departments of Tourism of various State Governments and UT Administrations. Following are the salient features of the compilation for 2016:
Domestic Tourist Visits to States/ UTs
During 2016, the number of domestic tourist visits to the States/ UTs was 1613.55 million as compared to 1431.97 million in 2015 registering a growth of 12.68 % over 2015.
The top ten States in terms of number of domestic tourist visits (in millions), during 2016, were Tamil Nadu (343.81), Uttar Pradesh (211.71), Andhra Pradesh (153.16), Madhya Pradesh(150.49), Karnataka (129.76), Maharashtra (116.52), Telangana (95.16), West Bengal (74.46), Gujarat(42.25) and Rajasthan (41.5).
The contribution of top 10 States was about 84.21% to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2016.
Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have maintained the first, second and third rank respectively in terms of DTVs in 2016. Madhya Pradesh has gained the fourth position leaving Karnataka at fifth position.
The top three States/UTs in terms of growth rates of domestic tourist visits, during 2016, were Madhya Pradesh (93%), Punjab (50.03%), Andaman & Nicobar Island (29.62%).
Foreign Tourist Visits to States/ UTs
During 2016, the number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to the States/ UTs was 24.71 million as compared to 23.33 million in 2015 registering a growth of 5.92% over 2015.
The top ten states in terms of number of FTVs (in millions) during 2016 were Tamil Nadu (4.72), Maharashtra (4.67), Uttar Pradesh (3.16), Delhi (2.52), West Bengal (1.53), Rajasthan(1.51), Kerala(1.04), Bihar(1.01), Goa (0.68) and Punjab (0.66).
The contribution of top 10 states was about 87.02% to the total number of FTVs in the country during 2016.
In 2016, while the top 8 states retained their previous rankings, Punjab entered the top 10 most visited states.
The top three states in terms of growth rates of foreign tourist visits, during 2016, were Punjab (172.21%), Sikkim (71.55%) and Chhattisgarh (44.2%).
