Rise in foreign tourists arrivals by over 9 per cent

NEW DELHI: Incredible India campaign has attracted 4.21 lakh foreign tourists to the country in May this year as against 3.84 lakh for the same period last year, marking a growth of 9.7 per cent, according to Tourism Ministry data.

Government earned Rs 7403 crore as foreign exchange in May as compared to Rs 6,092 crore in the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of 21.5 per cent growth, the according to Tourism Ministry data.

There is also an increase in Visa on Arrival ( VoA) as more tourists have availed the facility to come to the country.

In May this year, a total of 1,833 VoAs were issued under the scheme as compared to 1,114 VoAs during the same month last year, registering a growth of 64.5 per cent.

As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists, the Visa on Arrival scheme has been launched for 12 countries including South Korea, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore.