Rich cultural diversity, historic monuments of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal era, beautiful valley of Kashmir and the tropical Malabar coast of Kerala, Tourist destinations in India attract millions of people from across the world every year.

Many tourist destinations, including the historic city of Agra, popularly known as the city of Taj, have emerged as one of the finest tourist destinations in Asia. Ipso facto, Tourism in India has shown a phenomenal growth, especially in the last two decades, with the Ministry of Tourism making concerted efforts by intensifying the “Incredible India” campaign.
The tourist attractions also include natural beauty stretching from the high mountains of the Himalayas, the Ganges and the sands of the Thar desert.
The Incredible India campaign was launched in 2002 to project the country as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing different aspects of Indian history and culture.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the tourism sector in India is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.9 percent till 2023, making the country the third fastest growing tourism destination over the next decade.
According to the statistics issued by the Tourism Ministry and the Bureau of Immigration, the number of foreign tourists in India was 5.78 million in 2010, 6.31 million in 2011, 6.58 million 2012, 6.97 million in 2013, 7.68 million in 2014 and 6.28 million in 2015 (Jan-Oct).
Besides its rich cultural heritage well preserved in the historic cities of Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nalanda, Mumbai and Mysore, India has ethnic culture, better known as “Unity in Diversity,” as the South Asian nation has millions of residents speaking varied languages and hundreds of dialects, follow a variety of religious traditions and live in a multitude of urban and rural centers.
Moreover, the country is endowed with rich natural beauty that includes the the Kashmir valley and hill stations like Shimla, Manali, Dehradun, Massouri, Ooty, Darjeeling and Kerala.
India is probably the only country which offers a whole range of products and services to an inquisitive international tourist.
To make Indian tourism more attractive, the government of India has invested millions of dollars in about 50 destinations ranked as desirable tourist areas in the country to further promote the sector in a comprehensive manner.
Moreover, making a strong bid to this end, the government has decided to implement a new visa policy, allowing foreign tourists to obtain India visa on arrival at 16 designated international airports by obtaining an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) online before arrival without the need to visit an Indian embassy, consulate or visa center.
This innovative idea to promote tourism worked well and according to the Tourism Ministry, 56,477 tourists arrived on e-tourist visas in October 2015 as against 2,705 during the same month in 2014, registering a growth of 1,987.9 percent in foreign tourist footfalls.
During Jan-Oct, 2015 a total of 2,58,182 tourist arrived on e-tourist visas as compared to 21,995 for the same period in 2014, recording a phenomenal growth of 1,073.8 percent.
Thus, the Indian tourism sector continues to grow, both in volume and value. Besides traditional tourism, India has a large medical tourism sector with variety of services from cutting edge surgeries to routine ones, from modern treatment to traditional therapies like Ayurveda, Unani and Yoga at a reasonable cost.
According to statistics, the medical tourism sector was expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30 percent, making it a $2 billion industry by the end of 2015. Visitors from all of the world are going to India.
A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) statistics suggests 150,000 medical tourists came to India in 2005, based on feedback from the organization’s member hospitals, the number grew to 200,000 by 2008.
A separate study by ASSOCHAM reported that the year 2011 saw 850,000 medical tourists and projected the number to rise to 3,200,000 by 2015, which includes a huge number of medical tourist from the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.
India’s choice as a preferred destination for medical tourism has been helped by the government offering the special ‘M’ visa to medical tourists, the visa is valid for a year and issued to companions too.
Moreover, the Indian government is taking steps to address infrastructure issues to help the country’s growth in medical tourism.
A tourists visa-on-arrival scheme from select countries has been instituted, which allows foreign nationals to stay in India for 30 days for medical reasons.

Source : arabnews.com