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The sixth edition of India State Ranking Survey conducted by Hotelivate in association with the World Travel and Tourism Council – India Initiative (WTTC-II) unveiled significant findings that assess the relative competitiveness of nation’s 30 states in terms of Travel and Tourism potential. These states were adjudged on basis of 12 identified parameters including tourist visits, state expenditure on tourism, green cover, presence of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capita, effectiveness of marketing campaign, urbanisation, road and railway infrastructure, aircraft movement, literacy rate, ease of doing business and intangible aspects.
While tourist visits play a crucial role in defining the state’s tourism attractiveness, we take a look at the key insights unveiled in this study
- As per the findings, in 2018, India recorded 1.85 billion domestic tourist visits, a 12% increase over the previous year. International tourist visits to various states in the country also grew by around 7% to touch 28.87 million during this period.
- In terms of state wise performance, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have retained their pole positions for a decade in this parameter, recording the highest number of total tourist visits. While Tamil Nadu dominates both in terms of domestic as well as international visits, Uttar Pradesh, ranks second in terms of domestic tourist visits and third in terms of international visitation.
Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu singlehandedly accounted for around 21% of the total tourist visitation to all states in 2018. This is chiefly due to pilgrimage tourism, which helps it to attract many tourists from neighbouring states to its temples, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as Shore Temple, Iravatheeswarar Temple in Darasuram and Brahadeeswarar Temple in Gangaikonda. In addition, the state is also well served by four International airports, namely, Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Coimbatore and two major ports in Chennai and Thoothukudi, making it conveniently accessible from both within and outside the country.
Uttar Pradesh
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Uttar Pradesh received around 15% of the total visitation in the country in 2018. Apart from being home to the Taj Mahal, the state also houses other UNESCO World Heritage Sites like the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, and the spiritual capital of India, Varanasi. Underscoring the importance of tourism, the state government has been taking many initiatives to bolster demand in this sector. According to its latest tourism policy, the state has set targets over the next five years, which include attracting investments in the tourism sector to the tune of `5,000 crore each year, creating 5 lakh employment opportunities, and becoming the most preferred tourist destination in the country by 2023. In the current fiscal, the Uttar Pradesh government has significantly increased its expenditure on tourism as well as marketing and publicity to promote various destinations in the state. Resultantly, it is anticipated that Uttar Pradesh will attract more tourists in the coming years.
Besides, Telangana too has made a significant shift, moving up five places, as compared to the last survey. Telangana has seen a drastic improvement in international visitations. In terms of decadal variance, Punjab has made a massive transition, from being placed at the 22nd position in 2009 to climbing 14 places and reaching the 8th position in this year’s survey.
Apart from the survey also highlighted that the states that do not improve their tourism infrastructure and actively engage in promoting themselves will stand to lose out not just in terms of tourist visitations but also the direct and indirect benefits to the local economy.
