In 2021–2022, domestic visitors to the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO world heritage site, were in the top 10 most popular centrally protected ticketed sites, according to a new research from the Union Ministry of Tourism. The Red Fort and the Qutub Minar, both UNESCO-recognized structures in Delhi, came in second and third place, respectively, during the time period, behind only the Mughal-era tomb in popularity.
On Tuesday, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar presented the over 280-page study titled ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ at a ceremony in this city. As a result of COVID-19 limitations, the study stated, ‘the number of foreign visitor arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2021 declined to 1.52 million as opposed to 2.74 million in 2020, marking a negative growth of 44%’.
The Group of Monuments at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu was the most popular centrally-protected ticketed monument for foreign visitors during the same period, according to a report that shared information about the footfall at various sites managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Taj Mahal was the most popular centrally-protected ticketed monument for domestic visitors in 2021–2022. The Taj Mahal saw 3.29 million visits, or 12.65% of all domestic tourists, in 2021–2022, according to data provided by the study, followed by Red Fort (1.32 million) and Qutub Minar (1.15 million).
The Taj Mahal came in second with 0.03 million international tourists, followed by the Tiger-headed Rock Cut and two other monuments, Saluvankuppam, with 0.14 million, according to the study, which cited ASI statistics. The overall number of domestic travellers was 2,60,46,891 in 2021–2022 compared to 1,31,53,076 in 2020–2021, a 98% increase year over year. According to the data, there were 3,18,673 foreign visitors overall in 2021–22, a decrease of 23.4% from 4,15,859 in 2020–21.
In India, the ASI has safeguarded 3,693 historic sites. Many of these are UNECSO world heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Qutub Minar, and the Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, as well as the remains of the mediaeval Nalanda University in Bihar. Due to COVID-19 in 2020, ASI installations were closed for more than four months before being reopened in July with safety precautions in place. The vice president stated in his speech that the pandemic made the previous two years ‘extremely challenging’ and that it had a significant impact on the tourist industry. However, looking back, one can claim that India knows the route and the nation is ‘out of the difficult phase,’ he remarked.
India’s ranking in the global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) was 54th in 2021, the ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ report said. The annual award ceremony took place after a two-year gap due to the Covid outbreak in India in early 2020. In 2021, foreign exchange earnings from tourism were USD 8.797 billion against USD 6.959 billion in 2020, registering a growth of 26.4 per cent.
Despite COVID-19 ban, tourism rose steadily worldwide in 2021, it said. According to the data, India attracted 677.63 million domestic tourist visits in 2021, up 11.05 percent from 610.22 million in 2020. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the two states that receive the most domestic visitors, with 140.65 million and 86.12 million, respectively. According to the data, 1.26 million and 1.23 million international tourists visited Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, respectively, in 2017.
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