Between 2017 and 2023, 1.51 crore foreigners visited Uttar Pradesh and 80.08 lakh went to Agra, followed by 28 lakh to Varanasi. At least 189 crore Indian visits happened to the state between 2017-23, including 51.14 crore to Prayagraj. At least 38.83 crore went to Agra and 27.33 crore to Varanasi.
For foreigners, Agra remained the most-visited city each year between 2017 and 2023, although the number of foreigners visiting the town dropped drastically around the time when coronavirus hit the world and global travel was impacted.
The number of foreigners visiting the town in 2023 was lower than the pre-Covid-19 years (2017-19), although it has been on the rise since the last two-three years.
A similar scenario can be seen in Varanasi and Prayagraj. Varanasi stood second in terms of total foreigners visiting the city between 2017 and 2023, except 2019. The city is yet to get the foreign tourist footfall at par with pre-Covid-19 years.
Prayagraj saw the second-highest foreign tourist footfall only in 2019 — the year when the Kumbh Mela was organised. Almost 12 lakh foreigners visited the city, while Varanasi saw only seven lakh foreigner visits. Post 2020, the foreign tourists visiting the town is so low that the collective data for 2021 to 2023 calendar years is not even 10,000.
In 2023, about 11 lakh foreigners visited Agra. Varanasi saw 2.22 lakh foreigners while for Prayagraj it was just 4,853.
On an average, between 2017 and 2023, almost 6,000 foreigners visited Uttar Pradesh every day. About 3,200 went to Agra while almost 1,100 visited Varanasi and 600 to Prayagraj.
For Indian tourists, on average, about 7.4 lakh visited Uttar Pradesh per day between 2017 and 2023, of which over two lakh went to Prayagraj and around one lakh to Varanasi. Close to 1.52 lakh people visited Agra per day during the said period.
For Indian tourists, the most-visited destination kept switching between these three cities during 2017 and 2023. Agra was the most-visited city by Indian tourists in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and 2021. Prayagraj saw the highest inflow of Indian tourists in 2019 and 2020. Varanasi was the most-visited city three times — in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
Both Varanasi and Prayagraj are important cities for Hindus, not just from the perspective of tourism but also religion. Situated on the banks of river Ganga, the cities are considered important for seeking liberation and divine blessings, both in life and after death.
In 2023, almost 13 crore Indian tourists visited Varanasi. About 10.40 lakh went to Agra and 5.40 lakh to Prayagraj. In 2019, close to 30 crore Indians visited Prayagraj, against 8.14 crore to Agra and two crore to Varanasi.
Comments
0 comment