Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh ranked fifth in
domestic tourism among the states in the country in 2008 and
is fastly growing as an important tourism centre with almost
double the inflow of tourists as compared to 2006.
As per information released by the Union Ministry of
Tourism recently, Madhya Pradesh, which was on ninth place in
domestic tourism in 2007 in the country, reached the fifth
rank in 2008 by moving up four notches in comparison to the
previous year.
It attracted more than 2.20 crore tourist from the
country in 2008 but in 2006, their number was around 1.10
crore showing that tourist inflow had doubled in a span of two
years. In 2007, nearly 1.38 crore tourists came to the state
from various parts of the country.
Andhra Pradesh stood first with attracting more than
13.26 crore tourists which is 23.6 per cent of the domestic
tourists in the country while Uttar Pradesh with around 12.48
crore (22.2 per cent) got second rank in 2008.
However, the next challenge for the Tourism Department
in the state is to improve its foreign tourist visits in which
Madhya Pradesh is still not among the top 10 performers in the
country.
The state got ninth rank in 2004, 12th in 2005, 10th
in 2006, 9th in 2007 and now it is in the fifth position in
2008 in domestic tourism in the country.
A record 2,20,88,927 domestic tourists visited
Khajuraho, Sanchi and Bhimbhetka and tiger reserves among
others in 2008 which is 3.9 per of the total domestic tourists
in the country.
With securing fifth rank, Madhya Pradesh beat states
like Uttarakhand, Kerala and Goa which have been traditionally
regarded as tourist hotspots.
The aggressive marketing campaign and improvement in
infrastructure are the main reason behind the state has
increased the inflow of tourism, Madhya Pradesh Tourist
Development Corporation officials said.
Besides, Madhya Pradesh`s image as a tourist
destination has improved among travel community such as tour
operators and agents and they are recommending tourists to
visit the state, they said.
The officials said that there was not much impact of
global economic recession on domestic tourism in the state.
However, some destinations like Khajuraho which
attracts substantial foreigners has been affected due to it,
they said.
They said that the state still needs to improve on the
foreign tourist visit front as it is not able to get a place
among the top 10 in 2008 as far as foreign tourist visits are
concerned.
Madhya Pradesh stood 13th in 2006 and 12th in 2007 to
attract the foreign tourists in the country.
Bureau Report
