Tamil Nadu is No.1 destination for foreigners in India

[KS]

Tamil Nadu is No.1 destination for foreigners in India​

New Delhi: India has emerged as a popular destination for high-spending foreign tourists as the industry experienced a strong period of growth over the past four years, according to government data.

Tamil Nadu has attracted the largest number of overseas visitors with 1753103 foreigners having visited the southern state in 2007, 2029410 in 2008 and 2369050 in 2009, according to official Ministry of Tourism data.

The arrival of foreign tourists during January to November 2010 saw an upsurge by 10.4 per cent per cent against the arrivals over the same period in 2009.

Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on December 10, 2010, said the number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (January-November) were 5.08 million, 5.28 million, 5.11 million (provisional) and 4.93 million (provisional) respectively.

According to the data, Delhi and Maharashtra follow close on the heels of Tamil Nadu with 1958272 and 1999320 visitors respectively in the year 2009.

The North-East remains an obscure tourism destination for foreigners despite its breathtaking landscape, with Manipur registering a dismal 337 visitors in 2009.

Mizoram had 669 foreign visitors in 2007, 902 in 2008 and 513 in 2009.

However, during 2009, FTAs in India had registered a decline of 3.3 per cent over 2008. Ahmed attributed the decline in 2009 to various reasons including global slowdown and the H1N1 pandemic.

To attract more foreign tourists to India, the Ministry of Tourism has taken number of steps including advertising in India and abroad, participation in travel fairs, exhibitions, road shows, India evenings, seminars & workshops, publication of brochures and offering incentives to inbound travelers, he said.

The Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism has also been expanded so as to provide financial assistance to service providers for the promotion of domestic, medical & wellness and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Tourism in the country.

 

[subject17]

Very surprising, we need to do more.

 

[Nalwa]

This is interesting. I never really imagined TN to be a very attractive destination for foreign tourists. Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi and Kerala I understand, but TN beats me. Indian members living in Chennai, can you confirm this? Do you see a lot more firangs roaming around your streets? lol..just kidding guys. Congrats to TN. Hope the trend continues

 

[sreekimpact]

Very surprising, we need to do more.

really surprising.. i thought that it is our "god's own country" was on top.

well we have made very good ad FILM .
did anybody got a chance to view that?

its there in Youtube.

 

[Paan Singh]

look at j&k

 

[airuah]

just had new year with a polish woman (in chennai) ....she liked TN a lot (only god knows why?)

 

[KS]

This is interesting. I never really imagined TN to be a very attractive destination for foreign tourists. Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi and Kerala I understand, but TN beats me. Indian members living in Chennai, can you confirm this? Do you see a lot more firangs roaming around your streets? lol..just kidding guys. Congrats to TN. Hope the trend continues

I am not a native of Chennai (Chennai ! = Tamil Nadu) , but the truth is tourists come to Chennai only to catch the flight.

The reason TN is ahead is mainly due to religious tourism. The Temple in the OP (Meenakshi Amman Temple) is one of the most visited and we have many such grand temples.

Also places like Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty are evergreen favourites.

Then comes the medical tourism - In this case it is Chennai and to some extent Coimbatore that help.

Above all it is the warmth of our Tamil hospitality and the cuisine that play a major role.

 

[Zaildar]

Tamil Nadu is No.1 destination for foreigners in India​

New Delhi: India has emerged as a popular destination for high-spending foreign tourists as the industry experienced a strong period of growth over the past four years, according to government data.

Tamil Nadu has attracted the largest number of overseas visitors with 1753103 foreigners having visited the southern state in 2007, 2029410 in 2008 and 2369050 in 2009, according to official Ministry of Tourism data.

The arrival of foreign tourists during January to November 2010 saw an upsurge by 10.4 per cent per cent against the arrivals over the same period in 2009.

Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on December 10, 2010, said the number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (January-November) were 5.08 million, 5.28 million, 5.11 million (provisional) and 4.93 million (provisional) respectively.

According to the data, Delhi and Maharashtra follow close on the heels of Tamil Nadu with 1958272 and 1999320 visitors respectively in the year 2009.

The North-East remains an obscure tourism destination for foreigners despite its breathtaking landscape, with Manipur registering a dismal 337 visitors in 2009.

Mizoram had 669 foreign visitors in 2007, 902 in 2008 and 513 in 2009.

However, during 2009, FTAs in India had registered a decline of 3.3 per cent over 2008. Ahmed attributed the decline in 2009 to various reasons including global slowdown and the H1N1 pandemic.

To attract more foreign tourists to India, the Ministry of Tourism has taken number of steps including advertising in India and abroad, participation in travel fairs, exhibitions, road shows, India evenings, seminars & workshops, publication of brochures and offering incentives to inbound travelers, he said.

The Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism has also been expanded so as to provide financial assistance to service providers for the promotion of domestic, medical & wellness and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Tourism in the country.

FLAWED AND FAKE...where is my state punjab

 

[Hulk]

I like TN, when I went there kodikanal etc. I found few good things.
1. Very clean.
2. Much more disciplined.

However there are some problems which people of TN should correct.
1. They are rude to Hindi speaking people.
2. Water quality.

 

[GangLeader]

Foreigners mainly come here to Tamil Nadu mostly to visit the numerous temples. Most of the temples are quite majestic and visually appealing to the foreigners, as per the few of them with whom I had an opportunity to interact.

It is not that the temples in other parts of India lack architectural aspects but the temples in Tamil Nadu as I said before quite huge, even those in remote towns when compared to those in other places.

Most of them come on a heritage tour and you can spot many foreigners in most of the popular temples but it would very difficult to spot them in destinations preferred by local population, like Ooty, Kodaikanal, etc... mostly to beat away high temperature.

 

[PRACTICAL PATRIOT]

i was expecting more from kerala and goa and himachal.
even kashmir has great potential just violence needs to go away.
and if MP develops some infrastructure then it also has few good sights too. and orissa has very beautiful temples as well.
all in all all states in INDIA have gret potential for tourism.

 

[KS]

FLAWED AND FAKE...where is my state punjab

Ask the guys here...Contact PTDC - Email and telephone numbers of Punjab Tourism development corporation

I like TN, when I went there kodikanal etc. I found few good things.
1. Very clean.
2. Much more disciplined.

Thanks.

However there are some problems which people of TN should correct.
1. They are rude to Hindi speaking people.

What you might have experienced is a one-off phenomenon. Of course there is a stereotype that Tamils hate Hindi. Nothing can be farther from truth. Maybe you might have got a rude answer because you would have continued your questions in Hindi. You know how it annoys ppl when they are constantly asked questions in language they dont understand. Try the same in English they will go out of their way to help you even though they know you are a Northie.

I will relate a personal experience that happened to me while watching a Cinema in Coimbatore. It seems that few guys from Chatisgarh who had come for training in TCS had kept their certificates in the cinema hall itself and left. They came during the next show to retrieve it and the whole show was stopped for 15 minutes immediately to get that. No one complained and infact everyone was searching along with the youngsters to find that. This is how we treat strangers. It doesnt matter if you are from Punjab or Andhra or Assam.

2. Water quality.

Agreed. In some parts of TN the water is just unbearable.

 

[gowthamraj]

Good news


KARTHIK brother you missed ooty. I always see tons of foreigners there for every seasons

 

[KS]

Good news


KARTHIK brother you missed ooty. I always see tons of foreigners there for every seasons

Mapla naan ada potruken da....College la irundappa masathukku rendu thadava minimum poiruvom....Enakku theriyadha..

 

[absmonarch]

Tamil Nadu have best temples. But not cared for properly. Government control all temples and treat them like Sarkari offfic.e