Following are various stats, facts and figures on tourism in India , picked out of newspapers (mainly Hindustan Times), magazines (mainly India Today), the BBC and various sources on the web. These figures are not meant to be comprehensive lists, but rather statistical trivia or factual snippets. For basic general facts and figures about India as well as several Indian states, please see the Quick Reference popups on the right hand side of this page, or go to the main page of India statistics, facts and figures . For a full list of links to our statistics pages, see the About India index or the bottom of the right navigation bar on this page.

The stats on this page are divided into following sections:
   Statistics on tourist numbers in India
   Miscellaneous India tourism stats
   Stats on Indian tourists & travellers abroad
   Himachal Pradesh tourism statistics
   Goa tourism statistics
   Jammu & Kashmir tourism statistics

Lines marked with an asterisk (*) are recently added entries.

NOTE: Gathering accurate statistics on Indian tourism is not easy, with different (or even the same!!) sources frequently wildly contradicting each other. While we've tried as hard as possible to pick the right version, the statistics are provided "as is" and we offer no guarantee that these figures are accurate. So if you are from the Indian governments ministry of Tourism, and are using this page to prepare a press release for the boss - think again!!

statistics on tourist numbers in India

- * number of foreign tourists in 2006: about 4 million [AT Jan 07]
- * increase of tourist arrivals for the past 2 years: 13% annually [AT Jan 07]
- tourist arrivals in India: 1995: 2.12 million -- 1999: 2.48 million -- 2000: 2.64 million
   -- 2002: 2.36 million
- number of Britons visiting India: about 300,000 per year
- foreign tourists visiting the Northern states of India: 60 percent
- annual domestic tourists: 300 million (may 2004)
- number of domestic tourists or travellers in 2002: 270 million (acc. to Department
   of Tourism)
  (NOTE: the above two statistics seem extremely high, so we assume the Dept of Tourism
   included all non-essential travel; holidays, weekend trips, pilgrimages etc.)
- growth of domestic travel from 2002 to 2004: 15 to 20 percent
- growth of domestic travel within the past 4 years: about 30 percent (may 2004)
- number of tourists visiting the Taj Mahal in 2003: over 3 million
   (most visited Indian tourist attraction) [BBC Sep 04]

miscellaneous India tourism stats

- * foreign exchange earnings from tourism: 2005: approx 230bn Rs (5.7bn USD),
   increase of 20.2% from 2004 [AT Jan 07]
- foreign exchange earning previous years: 2000: 3.16 billion US dollar --
   2002: 2.96 billion US dollar
- * expected growth of Indian tourism industry: 10% annually over the next decade
   (according to World Travel and Tourism Council) [AT Jan 07]
- advertisement budget of the government for promotion of tourism: 650 million Rs
   (recent increase by 60 % - "Incredible India" slogan) [2004]
- annual passenger handling of Mumbai and Delhi airports combined: 22 million [2004]
- number of passengers flying out of Delhi airport every night between 10 pm and
   4 am (the bizarre timing of most international flights): around 5,000 passengers
   (apr 2004)
- * new branches of tourism in India: medical tourism, graveyard tourism,
   slum tourism [AT Jan 07]
- * average spending of foreign tourist in 2005: Rs 6 lakh(1,470 USD) [AT Jan 07]
- * people employed directly and indirectly by the tourism sector: almost 42 million
   (or 8.78% of total employment) [AT Jan 07]
- hotel occupancy in Delhi dec 03: 90 to 100 %

stats on Indian tourists & travellers abroad

- number of Indians travelling abroad on a holiday 2002: about 5 million
- estimated total number of Indians travelling abroad 2004: about 6 million
- number of Indians visiting Singapore in 2002: 375,000
- number of Indians visiting the USA in 2002: 257,000
- number of Indians visiting the UK in 2002: 220,000
- number of Indian visitors to China: approx 170,000 (dec 2003)
- number of Indians who are issued a visa to Britain: about 500,000 per year

Himachal Pradesh tourism statistics

- * total number of tourists in HP in 2007: 72 lakh (720,000) [CNEI Jan 07]
- * increase of foreign tourist inflow from 2005 to 2006 in HP: 20% [CNEI Jan 07]
- * target for foreign tourist inflow from 2006 to 2007: 18% [CNEI Jan 07]
- number of domestic tourists in HP 2003 or 04: about 5 million (50 lakh) per year
   [HT May 2004]
- number of foreign tourists in HP 2003 or 04: about 150,000 (1.5 lakh) per year
   [HT May 2004]
- early season tourist influx in HP (NOT full year), from Jan 1st till apr 30th for each
   year listed: 1999: 519,866 domestic and 6,259 foreign
   -- 2001: 521,869 domestic and 8,171 foreign
   -- 2003: 673,914 domestic and 8,501 foreign (acc to Hindustan Times 16 May 2004)
- average tourist population in the Kulu Valley in summer: 50,000 (2003)
- number of foreign visitors to the Kulu Valley: 35,000 annually
- contribution of tourism income to the state revenue in HP: around 5 billion Rs
   annually (acc. to Hindustan Times 12 May 2004);
   or around 2 billion Rs annually (acc. to Hindustan Times 22 February 2004)
- contribution of tourism to Himachal Pradesh's state domestic product: 2 %
- HPTDC tourist facilities in Himachal: 53 hotels (including 963 rooms & 2,052 beds),
   60 restaurants and cafes, 25 luxury coaches, 1 Tata Sumo.
   HPTDC = Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. Many of these assets
   are now up for privatisation.
- hotels in HP registered with the tourism department: 1,512 (with a bed capacity
   of 32,302)
- registered hotel beds in Manali: 14,000 (2003)
- number of vehicles from outside HP entering Manali: over 1,000 vehicles daily during
   peak season (May and June 2004)
- number of visitors to Rohtang Pass (HP) in peak season: at least 10,000 daily
   (jun 2004)
- number of vehicles driving up to Rohtang Pass (HP) in peak season: over 2,000
   vehicles daily (jun 2004)
- Himachal Tourism's (rather naive!) advertising slogan 2004: High on Himachal

Goa tourism statistics

- number of tourists (domestic & foreign) visiting Goa: about 2 million every year
- number of foreign tourists visiting Goa: about 200,000 every year
- number of British backpackers visiting Goa: about 20,000 every year

Jammu & Kashmir tourism statistics

- arrival of domestic tourists in the Kashmir Valley in May 2004: at least 50,000
- number of tourist arrivals in Kashmir, January to May 2004: more than 100,000
- number of tourists to Jammu & Kashmir: 2002: 18,000 -- 2003: 200,000
- number of wooden house boats on Dal Lake (Srinagar): 1,500

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data sources & key:
AT: Asia Times, BBC: BBC online, BRIT: Britannica 2002, BSNL: BSNL Telecom Trends, BSt: Business Standard, CIA: CIA Factbook India, CIN: censusindia.net, CNEI: Chandigarh Newsline, c/net: c/net news, ConSu: Content Sutra DI: Daily India, DNA: DNA India, EB: EquityBull, EI: ExpressIndia, EW: EconomyWatch, FE: Financial Express, FL: Frontline, GG: Gujarat Global, GTF: Global Technology Forum, GBoWR: Guinness Book of World Records, HT: Hindustan Times, ID: IndiaDaily, IInfoLine: India InfoLine IND: The Independent, ITo: India Today, NPBS: Nature PBS, PhO: PhysOrg, RED: Rediff, REU: Reuters, Sify: Sify Broadband, TH: The Hindu, TNJ: The News (Jang), ToI: Times of India, TT: The Tribune,

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