Source: www.hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 27, 2010: With a record 2.37 million visitors, Tamil Nadu became the number one destination state for foreign tourists in 2009, accounting for 17.3 per cent of tourists who visited the country.
Tamil Nadu also became the third state to attract maximum domestic tourists, with 115.8 million visitors (almost 17.8 per cent of domestic tourism). The lure: Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram, a town in Kancheepuram district that was a port city for the Pallava dynasty in the seventh century, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Figures compiled by the Ministry of Tourism found Andhra Pradesh retained its slot at the top for domestic tourism, for the fourth year running, with 157.5 million Indians visiting the state. “The big draw is the Tirumala Tirupati shrine in Andhra Pradesh,” a ministry official told HT.