India gains global interest as tourist destination: Study

Mumbai, Jan 16 (PTI) India is gaining popularity as a tourism destination among inbound travellers with top markets, including China showing interest in visiting here, according to a study. TripAdvisor in its '2017 Inbound Travel Study' revealed that international travel interest into India is on the rise. According to the findings, travellers from China were the largest group evincing interest year-over-year where Indian destinations were concerned. "It's encouraging that we are seeing growth not just from Asian countries but from long haul inbound markets, underscoring India's attractiveness as a destination globally. The data shows that travellers are also keen to explore places that are not usual for the international market, and they are looking for a wide variety of experiences on their visit which bodes well for our tourism industry," TripAdvisor India Country Manager Nikhil Ganju said. The data also showed that more travellers are writing reviews, eat as well as see in India and most of these are positive, he added. [caption id="attachment_100117" align="aligncenter" width="191"] TripAdvisor site data[/caption] This study examined TripAdvisor site data to find which markets had the largest increases in share of online traffic between October 2015 and September 2016 compared to between October 2016 and September 2017. Asian countries account for six of the top 10 markets showing an increase in the share of visitor sessions looking at Indian destinations. China topped the list this year with a whopping 134 per cent year-on-year growth in interest for Indian destinations. Bangladesh showed 60 per cent annual growth, followed by Singapore at 57 per cent, Thailand at 20 per cent, Japan at 16 per cent and Malaysia at 12 per cent. However, the increase in interest from long-haul markets including The Netherlands (10 per cent), Canada (10 per cent), Russia (9 per cent) and the United Kingdom (9 per cent) signals healthy inbound travel trends for India. When it comes to top Indian states seeing highest growth Andaman and Nicobar Islands topped the list (25.1 per cent) followed by , Mizoram (6.8 per cent), Bihar (12.3 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (9.1 per cent), Kerala (7.4 per cent) among others. PTI