New Delhi, Jan 8 (Inditop.com) The global economic meltdown and the swine flu scare appears to have hit Indian tourism last year, which saw tourist arrivals fall by 3.3 percent to 5.11 million.
Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said that around 5.11 million foreign tourists visited India in 2009.
The 2008 figure was 5.28 million. The earlier figure of 5.37 million had been revised by the Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
Selja, however, said that India’s tourism growth was better than what was estimated by the UN World Trade Organisation.
The UN body, which compiles world tourism rankings, had predicted that the tourism industry would globally face a minus 6-4 percent growth in 2009.
In December 2009, about 646,000 tourists visited India, compared to 534,000 in the corresponding month in 2008. The figure was 597,000 for the same month in 2007.
Selja said that the foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 2009 were Rs.54,960 crore as compared to Rs.50,730 crore in 2008.
