Whopping rise in tourist arrivals in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, May 5 (UNI) Chandigarh has witnessed a whopping increase in the number of tourists visiting the beautiful city last year.

As many as 9,54,726 of tourists visited the city last year, out of which 9,28,159 included domestic tourists while rest of 26,567 were foreigners, according to the statistics released by the Department of Tourism UT Administration.

There was an increase of over 2 lakh domestic tourists over the previous year, the statistics stated.

Statistics for the current year disclose that 78,555 domestic tourists visited in the month of January whereas 73,484 and 71,563 for the months of February and March respectively visited the city.

The numbers of foreign tourists for January have been 2,092, for February 3,133 and 4,194 for the month of March.

The statistics for the last three years shows an increasing trend in the number of tourists both domestic and foreigners.

In the year 2005, a total of 6,14,176 domestic tourists whereas 23,284 foreigners visited Chandigarh.

In the year 2006, a total of 7,04,531 domestic tourists and 25,217 foreigners visited the city.

The continuous increase in the number of visitors was the consequence of sustained efforts and tourism activities conducted from time-to-time by the administration, with the upgradation of the existing facilities at the tourists spots by the Department of Tourism.

The data had been collected from the Government approved hotels, guest houses and lodging places in SCO's and SCF's scattered in different parts of the city and also from the police sources pertaining to the arrival of foreign nationals in Chandigarh.

UNI XC JN JT HT1752