8.9 million foreign tourists visited India last year, up 11% from 2015

Mumbai: About 8.9 million foreign tourists visited India in 2016, up 11 per cent from the previous year, reveals a study by travel company ixigo. "Most of these tourists have been found to originate from the US, Bangladesh and UK, which account to about 40 per cent of the total count," the company said in a statement.

"India has quite evidently been witnessing a consistent rise of inward foreign tourism year on year. This increase can be attributed to many factors such as more flexible government policies, easy availability of e-visas to foreign tourists, developments in road & rail infrastructure and much more," it said.

"While maximum tourists hit base in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in 2016, accounting to over 50 per cent of foreign arrivals, we have seen people travel around the country to visit popular destinations such as Goa, Rajasthan, Kerala, etc. If government policies continue to remain flexible, 2017 should prove to be an even better year for foreign tourism," said CEO Aloke Bajpai.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.