Foreign tourists stay away as unrest continues in Kashmir

The unrest in Jammu and Kashmir continues to take a toll on the state’s tourism industry with foreign visitors giving it a miss for another year.
In 2016, only 63,207 foreign tourists visited the state as compared to 86,477 in 2014. The state has been under the grip of violent protests since July last year following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.
The state was ranked 23rd in the list of India’s top 36 tourist destinations this year.
According to data compiled by the Market Research Division of the Ministry of Tourism on domestic and foreign tourist visits to states and Union territories (UTs), Tamil Nadu retained its position as the top destination for both foreign and domestic visitors.
During 2016, the number of foreign tourist visits to the states and UTs was 24.71 million as compared to 23.33 million in 2015, a growth of 5.92 per cent.
The top 10 states in terms of number of foreign tourist visits were Tamil Nadu (4.72 million), Maharashtra (4.67), Uttar Pradesh (3.16), Delhi (2.52), West Bengal (1.53), Rajasthan (1.51), Kerala (1.04), Bihar (1.01), Goa (0.68) and Punjab (0.66).
The top 10 states attracted about 87.02 per cent of total foreign visitors in 2016.
While the top eight states retained their previous rankings, Punjab made it into the list of top 10.
The top three states that registered the maximum growth in drawing foreign visitor were Punjab (172.21 per cent), Sikkim (71.55 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (44.2 per cent).
The total domestic tourist visits to the states and UTs increased by 12.68 per cent in 2016 as compared to 2015.
Tamil Nadu has registered 343.81 million domestic tourist visits in 2016, followed by Uttar Pradesh (204.9 million), Andhra Pradesh (211.71), Andhra Pradesh (153.16), Madhya Pradesh (150.49), Karnataka (129.76), Maharashtra (116.52), Telangana (95.16), West Bengal (74.46), Gujarat (42.25 million) and Rajasthan (41.5 million).
The contribution of top 10 States was about 84.21% to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2016.
Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have maintained the first, second and third rank respectively in terms of domestic visitors in 2016.
Madhya Pradesh has gained the fourth position leaving Karnataka at fifth position.
The top three states and UTs in terms of growth rates of domestic tourist visits were Madhya Pradesh (93 per cent), Punjab (50.03 per cent) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (29.62 per cent).