OREANDA-NEWS. Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis of data available from Reserve Bank of India. The following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism during the month of April 2015.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):

• FTAs during the Month of April 2015 were 5.40 lakh as compared to FTAs of 5.37 lakh during the month of April 2014 and 4.51 lakh in April 2013. There has been a growth of 0.5% in April 2015 over April 2014.

• FTAs during the period January- April 2015 were 28.21 lakh with a growth of 2.7%, as compared to the FTAs of 27.47 lakh in January- April 2014.

• The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during April 2015 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (15.66%), followed by USA (12.55%), UK (10.32%) Sri Lanka (3.99%), Malaysia (3.27%), Australia (3.14%), France (2.95%), Germany (2.95%), Japan (2.91%), China (2.88%), Canada (2.72%), Singapore (1.89%) Pakistan (1.83%), Nepal (1.82%) and Russian Fed. (1.75%) . These top 15 countries account for 70.63% of total FTAs during April 2015.

• The Percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during April 2015 among the top 15 ports was highest at Delhi Airport (30.35%) followed by Mumbai Airport (17.79%), Haridaspur Land check post (8.71%), Chennai Airport (8.50%), Bengaluru Airport (6.50%), Kolkata Airport (3.86%),Cochin Airport (3.76%), Hyderabad Airport (2.89%), Gede Rail (1.90%), Goa Airport (1.72%), Trivandrum Airport (1.69%), Ahmedabad Airport (1.44%), Tiruchirapalli Airport (1.32%), Ghojadanga Airport (1.21%) and Attari Wagha (1.15%). These top 15 ports account for 92.79% of total FTAs during April 2015.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from Tourism in India in rupee terms and in US\$ terms

• FEEs during the month of April 2015 were Rs. 9,438 crore as compared to Rs. 8,645 crore in April 2014.

• The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms during April 2015 over April 2014 was 9.2%.

• FEEs from tourism in rupee terms in January- April 2015 were Rs. 42,474 crore with a growth of 3.3% as compared to the FEE of Rs. 41,118 crore during January- April 2014.

• FEEs in US\$ terms during the month of April 2015 were US\$ 1.505 billion as compared to FEEs of US\$ 1.431 billion during the month of April 2014.

• The growth rate in FEEs in US\$ terms in April 2015 over April 2014 was 5.2%.

• FEEs from tourism in US\$ terms during January- April 2015 were US\$ 6.815 billion with a growth of 2.0% as compared to the US\$ 6.684 billion with a decline of 4.2% during January- April 2014 over January- April 2013.