Question : Places of Tourist Interest in Kerala

(a) the details of the major tourist places in the country, State/UT-wise;
(b) the details of revenue earned as well as expenditure incurred during the last three years and the current year in respect of these tourist destinations, State/UT-wise;
(c) the number of domestic and foreign tourists who visited these places during the said period, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the Government has identified the places of tourist interest in the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala; and
(e) the details of the central assistance provided and amount spent thereon during the last three years and the current year, year-wise?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a) to (c): The Ministry of Tourism promotes India as a holistic tourism destination in the domestic and international markets, including the various tourism sites and products of every State/Union Territory of the country.

The Ministry of Tourism does not maintain data of revenue earned from domestic tourism. However, details about Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from the tourism sector, for the country as a whole is given below:
<pre>
Year FEEs (in Rs. crore)
2013 1,07,671
2014 1,23,320
2015 1,35,193
2016 (upto January to September) 1,12,068
</pre>
Details of expenditure incurred for tourism infrastructure development projects for various tourism sites in the country during the last three years and the current year is given at Annexure-I.

Details of domestic and foreign tourist visits to the States/Union Territories during the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 are given at Annexure-II.

(d): The Ministry of Tourism under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme has identified 13 theme based circuits namely North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit, spanning the entire country, for integrated development of tourist circuits.

Under the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) Scheme, 23 religious cities/sites have been identified for development namely Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Dwarka (Gujarat), Deoghar (Jharkhand), Belur (West Bengal), Gaya (Bihar), Guruvayoor (Kerala), Hazratbal (Jammu & Kashmir), Kamakhya (Assam), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Patna (Bihar), Puri (Odisha), Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Somnath (Gujarat), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu).

(e): Details of projects sanctioned to State Governments/UT Administrations, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala, under various operative schemes during the last three years and the current year is given at Annexure-III.
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