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 a new report released by the Union Ministry of Tourism.
While the Mughal-era mausoleum ranked first, the Red Fort and Qutub Minar – both UNESCO-recognized sites in Delhi – were the second and third most visited sites, respectively, for this period.
The 280-page report titled ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ was released by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday at an event here on World Tourism Day.
The report states that due to restrictions related to COVID-19, “the number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India declined to 1.52 million during 2021 as compared to 2.74 million in 2020, registering a negative growth of 44.5%”. Still working”.
Mamallapuram Monuments Attract Most Foreigners
Sharing data about 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 monuments at Mamallapuram in Tamil The group of Nadu was the most visited centrally protected ticketed monument for foreign visitors during the same period.
As per the data shared by the report, Taj Mahal saw 3.29 million or 12.65% of the total footfall in 2021-22 for domestic visitors, followed by Red Fort (1.32 million) and Qutub Minar (1.15 million).
By foreign visitors, the group of monuments at Mamallapuram saw 0.14 million, followed by the Taj Mahal (0.038 million) and the tiger-headed rock cut and two other monuments, Saluvankuppam, (0.025 million), the report said citing ASI data Is. ,
In 2021-22, the total number of domestic visitors was 2,60,46,891, while the corresponding figure in 2020-21 was 1,31,53,076, showing an annual growth of 98%.
As per the data, the total number of foreign visitors for 2021-22 stood at 3,18,673, a decline of 23.4% from 4,15,859 in 2020-21.
There are 3,693 heritage sites protected by the ASI in India. Many of these are UNECSO World Heritage Sites such as the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar.
Two years ‘extremely difficult’ due to pandemic
In 2020, ASI sites remained closed for over four months due to COVID-19 and reopened in July with safety protocols.
In his address, the Vice President said that the last two years had been “very difficult” due to the pandemic and the tourism sector had been hit hard. But, looking back, one can say that India knows the way out and the country is “out of difficult times”, he said.
He also presented the National Tourism Awards 2018-19 during the event at Vigyan Bhavan. The annual award ceremony took place after a gap of two years due to the outbreak of COVID in India in early 2020.
The ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ report states that India’s ranking in the Global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) was 54th in 2021.
It also stated that while FTAs experienced “negative growth rates” in 2021, non-resident Indians (NRIs) and international tourist arrivals (ITAs) experienced “positive growth”. NRI arrivals increased by 52.6% from 2020 to 2021.
In 2021, the top 15 source markets for FTAs in India were the US, Bangladesh, UK, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan, Australia, Germany, Portugal, France, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Russia, Iraq and the Netherlands. The report states that in 2021, the top 15 countries would account for about 80.9% of total FTAs with India.
It states that tourism is playing an important role as a foreign exchange earner for the country.
The report states that in 2021, foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism were USD 8.797 billion, up from USD 6.959 billion in 2020, registering a growth of 26.4 per cent.
In 2021, there is a steady increase in tourism globally despite the COVID-19 restrictions.
The report states that India is expected to receive 677.63 million domestic tourists in 2021, up 11.05% from 610.22 million in 2020.
The two states with the highest number of domestic tourist arrivals are Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh with 140.65 million and 86.12 million respectively. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu received the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals with 1.26 million and 1.23 million, respectively, the report said.