Foreign tourist arrival has jumped 16.5% despite note ban: Centre

The tourism sector has shown fastest revival after demonetisation as January saw 16.5 per cent hike in foreign tourist arrival which was around 9 per cent in December. According to the monthly reports of Ministry of Tourism, the e-Visa has registered a growth of 72 per cent in the first month of the current year.

"In comparison to January 2016, there is a growth of 16.5 per cent in foreign tourist arrival in India. The growth rate in January 2016 was 6.8 per cent only," said a senior officer of Ministry of Tourism.

He informed that in January around 1.52 lakh foreign tourists came to India through e-Visa, which was only 88,000 in the same month of previous year. "The proportion of foreign tourists opting for e-Visa has increased to 15.5 per cent against 10.4 per cent," he added.

As per the monthly report on foreign tourist arrival in India, 9.83 lakh tourists came to discover Incredible India in January this year out of which a maximum 15 per cent were from USA, followed by 14.9 per cent from Bangladesh and 11 per cent from UK. In January, maximum 28.3 per cent foreign tourists directly landed at New Delhi airport, followed by 18 per cent at Mumbai and eight per cent at Haridaspur land check post.

In 2016, the tourism industry registered a record 10.4 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrival from January toNovember but the note ban derailed the industry in December. The tourism industry bodies such as Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) had publically expressed concerns and Assocham had released a survey predicting huge loss to tourism sector in December but the industry showed quick revival in January.

The tourism industry was least affected due to demonetisation as even the worst month of note ban December had witnessed 13.6 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrival in comparison to last year. According to the data, 10.37 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India in December but the industry had expected more due to Christmas and New Year.

India earned a record Rs 16,805 crore through foreign exchange earnings () in comparison to Rs 14,153 crore in 2015 and Rs 12,988 crore in 2014.