Maharashtra tops list of number of foreign tourist visits in 2011

According to the latest report from the union ministry of tourism, Maharashtra tops the list of number of foreign tourist visits, followed by Tamil Nadu and New Delhi. While Maharashtra received 4.8 million tourists, Tamil Nadu welcomed 3.4 million tourists and New Delhi played host to 2.8 million foreigners.

The statistics releases by the union ministry of tourism for 2011 says the number of foreign tourist visits (FTV) to Indian states/union territories was 19.5 million as compared to 17.9 million in 2010 and 14.4 million in 2009.

This year the number of FTVs registered a growth of 8.85% over 2010 as compared to a growth of 24.6% in 2010 over 2009.

"Our campaign, 'Maharashtra Unlimited' has been successful in reaching out to the globe. We lay emphasis on leisure tours, beach tours, rural tourism and heritage tourism among others. As Maharashtra is an all-season destination we would like to retain these tourists for more number of days," said Maharashtra tourism minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

The report says that the contribution of the top 10 states was about 90.1% to the total number of foreign tourists in the country for 2011.