Over one crore tourists are estimated to have visited Kerala during 2011, according to the Tourism Minister, Mr A. P. Anil Kumar.
Revenue earnings recorded by the sector during the period stood at Rs 19,037 crore, the Minister said in an update of the Government’s performance in its first year in office.
Of the inbound tourists, 7.3 lakh were foreign and the rest (93.7 lakh) domestic, the Minister told newspersons here.
This represented a year-on-year rise of 73,720 in the number of foreign tourists and as much as 7.86 lakh in domestic tourists.
The foreign exchange earnings have gone up from Rs 3,797.37 crore in 2010 to Rs 4,221.99 crore in 2011, the Minister said.
The Department of Tourism achieved 94.5 per cent utilisation of the annual plan funds during the period under reference.
This was the best performance in at least the last 20 years, the Minister claimed.