'No adverse impact of GST on foreign tourist arrivals'

New Delhi: There was no adverse impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout on foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in the country, Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons informed Parliament on Monday. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, he said FTAs grew by 13.9 per cent in the July-November period this year, as against the corresponding period last year.

The GST was rolled out by the Centre on July 1, 2017.

"The number of FTAs in India, during July-November, was 41.16 lakh in 2017, as compared to the 36.14 lakh during July- November 2016, registering a double-digit growth of 13.9 per cent. As such, no adverse impact of the implementation GST was seen in tourist arrivals," the minister said.

This year, till November, most tourists had arrived in the country via the Delhi port, followed by Mumbai, Haridaspur, Chennai and Bengaluru, he added.

Replying to another query, Alphons said FTAs during January-November, 2017 were 90.01 lakh as compared to the 77.83 lakh during the same period in 2016, registering a growth of 15.6 per cent.