Over 13 lakh foreigners visited UP last year. Rajasthan is the second-most preferred destination with 12 lakh tourists in 2006.
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan's rajwadaas and havelis and the backwaters of Kerala may be the most fancied places to visit but when it comes to picking the most favourite destination in India, foreigners have no doubt about choosing the Taj Mahal.
The Taj draws the most foreign tourists. Over 13 lakh foreigners visited UP last year. Rajasthan is the second-most preferred destination with 12 lakh tourists in 2006.
Kerala, despite its popular ayurvedic massages and backwaters, still has a long way to go. A little over four lakh foreigners stepped on the 'spicy' soil last year.
According to tour operators, Rajasthan remains the hot favourite even though UP beats the desert state in terms of tourist traffic.
"UP has only one big attraction, Taj Mahal, which acts like magnet for foreigners. Most of the tourists visit Taj Mahal during the day and return by night. Thus, it registers more footfalls.
“After Taj, they rush to Rajasthan and like to spend about a week or so over there,” chairman of Indian Association of Tour Operators Subhash Goyal said.
Going by tourism ministry's statistics, however, Delhi and Mumbai record the highest number of tourists mainly due to international airports.
While Delhi received close to 20 lakh foreigners last year, Maharashtra registered 16.5 lakh with most flying in to Mumbai.
But these statistics can be misleading, say tour operators. "Delhi and Mumbai being gateway cities automatically register more number of visitors. But half of these tourists move on to other places after landing," said Goyal.
According to the tourism industry, Goa and Kerala is equally popular. Among the new destinations, Uttaranchal seems to be fast catching up. "Sikkim is getting popular as an adventure tourism destination," Goyal added.
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