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India's inbound tourism earnings double in 3 yrs

The country’s popularity as a tourist destination is on the rise, be it for business or leisure travel. In ‘05, the country earned $6.9bn from inbound foreign tourists, which is more than twice the $3.1bn earned in ‘02.

According to the latest balance of payments figures released by the Reserve Bank of India, ‘05 was the year of fastest growth in forex inflows from foreign travel, during which inflows went up 36%.

Though the details are not available, the bulk of the earnings are believed to be from business travel, with the number of foreign investors having business interests within the country touching a new high during the year.

In fact, with absolute inflows remaining flat in the range of $1.3bn for over six consecutive quarters, the figure for the latest quarter — October-December ’05 — has shown a sharp spurt during which gross tourism inflows amounted to record $2.2bn. October- December is normally the peak season for travel by foreigners for both business and leisure. But inflows during the latest quarter touched a record high.

Besides, aggressive efforts by the ministry of tourism by promoting India as a tourism destination seem to be slowly paying off. In fact, the country as a tourism destination is facing stiff competition from other Asia- Pacific countries like, Malaysia, other south-east Asian countries. Besides, New Zealand as a tourism destination is also being promoted of late through media advertisements.

Interestingly, forex outflows on outbound tourism has also touched a new high during the year, with Indian tourists spending a record $5.8bn during the year. The net tourism income has virtually turned around from just about $4min the previous year to $1bn during ‘05.

However, net tourism income has been much higher in the past, as Indians did not spend much on foreign travel through official channels in the past. In fact, in 1996, net tourism income had touched $2bn, which is the highest net inflows under this account in the balance of payments.

 

(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

 
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