Incredible India up on tourism map

Strong economy and leisure travel boosted foreign tourists' arrival to 11.4% in Sept from a year earlier.

Foreign tourist arrivals in India rose 11.4 per cent in September from a year earlier, as the country's tourism industry booms amid a strong economy and growth in business and leisure travel.

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A government statement said India had 262,925 foreign visitors in September, compared with 235,970 a year earlier, while foreign exchange earnings rose 16.1 per cent to $420.58 million.

India, which is Asia's third-largest economy, is trying to boost tourism by running a high-profile publicity campaign called "Incredible India" to showcase attractions like its heritage palaces, jungles, ski slopes and spiritual and adventure tourism destinations.

Some 3.4 million foreign travellers visited in 2004 and that number is expected to rise 10 per cent annually helped by lower air fares and reduced tensions with South Asian nuclear rival Pakistan.