Foreign tourist arrivals in India up 7 per cent in May

Foreign tourist arrivals in India grew 7 per cent year-on-year in May 2011 to 3.69 lakh compared to 3.45 lakh during May 2010, which in turn had grown by 13 per cent from 3.05 lakh in May 2009.

Foreign tourist arrivals during January-May 2011 were up 11.5 per cent at 25.23 lakh compared to 22.63 lakh in January-May 2010, which in turn was up 9.5 per cent from the corresponding period of 2009.

India's foreign exchange earnings from tourists rose 15.8 per cent to Rs5,047 crore during May 2011 from Rs4,358 crore in May 2010, which again had grown by a robust 34.1 per cent from Rs3,249 crore in May 2009.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourists during January-May 2011 were up 11.6 per cent at Rs29,723 crore against Rs26,622 crore in January-May 2010, which in turn had grown 27.4 per cent from the previous year's level.

Foreign exchange earnings in dollar terms during May 2011 were up 18.2 per cent at $1,124 million against $951 million during May 2010, which in turn had grown by 42 .2 per cent from $669 million in May 2009.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism during January-May 2011 grew 13.3 per cent to $6,598 million from $5,822 million in January-May 2010, which in turn had grown by  38.3 per cent over the corresponding period of 2009.