Foreign tourist arrivals in India grew 1.7 percent to 3.54 lakh in April compared to 3.48 lakh in April 2009 despite the closure of the European air space for over a week, the government said Friday.
"Inspite of the closure of airspace in Europe due to volcanic eruption in Iceland, India registered a positive growth of 1.7 percent in foreign tourist arrivals in April 2010 over the same period in 2009," the Tourism Ministry said in a statement.
It said the foreign tourist arrivals growth rate in April was lower than that of March 2010 (12.9 percent).
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It said arrivals in January-April 2010 was 19.18 lakh with a growth of 10.6 percent compared to 17.35 lakh and a negative growth of 11.7 percent during the same period of 2009.
The foreign exchange earnings in April was Rs.45.18 billion, up from Rs.40.61 billion in April 2009.