Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra topped destinations for foreign tourists 2021

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had the highest numbers of foreign tourist visits, with 1.26 million and 1.23 million, respectively in 2021.

As per a report by Union Tourism Ministry, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had the highest numbers of foreign tourist visits, with 1.26 million and 1.23 million, respectively in 2021. The over 280-page report titled ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ was released by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on World Tourism Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. India received 677.63 million domestic tourist visits in 2021, an increase of 11.05 per cent from 610.22 million in 2020, the report said.

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Some key points in the report:

The report said due to restrictions related to COVID-19, “the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million as compared to 2.74 million in 2020, registering a negative growth of 44.5 per cent”.
The total number of foreign visitors for 2021-22 was 3,18,673, declining 23.4 per cent on year from 4,15,859 in 2020-21, according to the data.
Sharing data about the footfall at various sites under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the report said the Taj Mahal was the most popular centrally-protected ticketed monument for domestic visitors in 2021-22, while the Group of Monuments at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu was the most visited centrally-protected ticketed monument for foreign visitors during the same period.
In 2021-22, the total number of domestic visitors stood at 2,60,46,891, while the corresponding figure in 2020-21 was 1,31,53,076, marking a 98 per cent on-year growth.
The two states with the most domestic tourists visiting are Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh with 140.65 million and 86.12 million, respectively.
The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO world heritage site, was among the 10 most popular centrally-protected ticketed monuments for domestic visitors in 2021-22, according to the report.
While the Mughal-era mausoleum ranked first, the Red Fort and the Qutub Minar, both UNESCO-recognised sites in Delhi, were the second and third most visited sites, respectively, for the period.