Tourist arrivals on the rise: Minister

Tourist arrivals increased in 2019 despite ruckus over abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, the Supreme Court's decision on Ram temple and the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

According to the Tourism Ministry data, the sector has seen an upward trend at the time when nine nations have issued travel advisory to their citizens.

On the increasing tourist inflow, Minister of State for Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is our brand and it's the reason why the tourist arrivals have increased."

November 2019 witnessed 7.8 per cent higher arrivals at 10,91,946 against 10,12,569 in the year-ago month.

The e-visa facility has recorded 43 per cent increase. In November, 3,75,484 tourists availed e-visa against 2,61,956 in the year-ago month.

The income from tourists increased by 19.6 per cent to Rs 19,831 thousand crore in 2019 against Rs 16,584 thousand crore in 2018.

The tourist arrival at Mamallapuram, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, increased 35 per cent after the Prime Minister hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The government is offering attractive packages to Chinese tourists. Only 3-3.5 lakh Chinese tourists visit India.

The Minister said the government was planning to promote tourism to 17 famous places.IANS