Times of India: Bhopal: Monday, July 31, 2017.
There is some
bad news for the tourism industry in Madhya Pradesh. For the first time in five
years, there was a 15% dip in the number of foreign tourists visiting the state
in the year 2016, a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has
revealed.
Interestingly,
out of the total foreign tourists visiting MP, Khajuraho alone has drawn more
than 25%, while the holy town Chitrakoot is number one in terms of Indian
tourists.
Replying to
the query of RTI activist from Satna, Rajeev Kumar Khare, the Union tourism
ministry has informed that a total of around 4.21 lakh tourists visited the
state in 2015. The figure had increased year on year from 2012 when 2,75,930
foreigners visited the state. In the year 2013 a total of 2,80,333 foreigners
visited the state and in year 2014 the footfall of foreign tourists increased
to 3,16,915.
But 2016
ended the trend as foreign tourists dipped to 3,63,195, stated the reply from
the the Union tourism ministry in its reply to Khare dated July 27, 2017.
"This is
despite the fact that crores of rupees are being spent by the state government
to promote tourism here," Khare said.
"Most
interesting part of the reply from the Union ministry is the fact that
Khajuraho alone has received 25% of the total number of foreign tourists in
MP," Khare said.
In the same
reply, the ministry has informed that between the years 2013 and 2015, the
government earned a whopping Rs 35,000 crore from the foreign tourists visiting
the country.
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