For the third year in a row, Andhra Pradesh with its pilgrim spots remains a hit with domestic tourists while Delhi continues to enjoy the tag of the Indian city most visited by foreigners.

Besides Delhi, foreigners favoured Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. These were the states that were most visited by tourists in 2007 too.


The following top 10 states accounted for about 90 per cent of the total foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2008. About 5.37 million foreigners visited India in 2008 as compared to 5.08 million in 2007.

Delhi also saw a major jump in its tourist figures in 2008 as far as foreign travellers are concerned. Over 2.3 million foreigners visited the national capital last year as compared to 2.01 million in 2007 and 1.9 million in 2006.

While Maharashtra drew over two million foreign tourists last year, in the previous year the figure was 1.9 million this year. In 2008 about two million foreigners visited Tamil Nadu as compared to 1.7 million in 2007.

Uttar Pradesh drew 1.6 million foreign visitors in 2008, while 1.49 million had come to the state in 2007.

Rajasthan received the same number of foreign travellers -- about 1.4 million - as in the previous year.

The other favoured states include West Bengal, which received over 1.1 million foreign tourists in 2008.

Andhra Pradesh received over 789,180 foreign tourists in 2008.

Kerala received over 598,929 foreign tourists in 2008.

Himachal Pradesh received over 376,736 foreign tourists in 2008.