Domestic tourism registers 15.5 per cent growth in 2009: MoT

According to a PIB release, market research division of Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has compiled data on ‘domestic and foreign tourist visits to States/ Union Territories (UT)’ received from Ministries/ Departments of Tourism of various State Governments and UT Administrations. The complied data reveals that domestic tourism registered a growth of 15.5 per cent in 2009 in spite of economic recession and other adverse factors for tourism. On the contrary, FTAs (Foreign Tourist Arrivals) and FTVs (Foreign Tourists Visits) registered a decline of 3.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively during the same period. Following are the important highlights of data for 2009:

(a) Domestic Tourist Visits to States/ UTs

• During 2009, the number of Domestic Tourist Visits to 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 per cent over 2008 as compared to increase of 6.9 per cent in 2008 over 2007.