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| 15 July 2008 | Mumbai | | India Voted One of the Top Five Must See
Travel Destinations in Asia Pacific | | Visa survey shows India is a drawcard for both international
and domestic travelers | |
India has been voted one of the top five must see travel destinations for people living in Asia Pacific, according to a survey commissioned by Visa [1].
The survey asked more than 4,500 people from nine Asia Pacific countries and territories to share their top 'must-visit' travel destinations in the region. According to the survey, 63 percent of respondents said Australia was the place they most wanted to see. This was followed by Singapore (42 percent), New Zealand (41 percent), Japan (40 percent) and India (27 percent).
Santanu Mukherjee, country manager, South Asia, Visa Asia Pacific said: "In recent years, India has become an important destination on the global tourist map with more than two million foreign visitors between January and May 2008 [2]. India has a variety of holiday options to offer, from heritage to adventure holidays and family vacations to relaxing getaways, and is becoming a desired destination for international tourists."
Domestic tourism proved a big draw with more than half of the Indian respondents in the Visa expressing interest in exploring the tourist attractions of their own country. According to the Annual Report of the Ministry of Tourism 2007-08, domestic tourism grew 17.8 percent from 2005 to 2006 (380 million domestic tourists in 2005 to 462 million in 2006 [3]).
Among Indian respondents, the appeal across certain demographics was similar with 49 percent of men and 53 percent of women putting India in their must see list. Across the age groups of Indian respondents, more than 55 percent of those 35 and above selected India as a 'must see' destination.
Mr. Mukherjee continued: "India offers a variety of unique experiences for all travelers, but understanding the particular demographics of domestic travelers can help us make the right decisions when it comes to developing cardholder programs and promotions to support tourism."
| [1] | Between 17 March and 9 April 2008, Nielsen conducted 4,556 online and door-to-door interviews on behalf of Visa with people aged 18 years and above from nine countries and territories (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and India) in an effort to measure their travel intentions in the future. For each market, quotas were set by key demographic variables to ensure the sample was representative of the general population. | | [2] | Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India, "Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAS) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from tourism in India during 2008 and comparative figures of 2006 and 2007", http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=39499, 10 June 2008. | | [3] | Source: Ministry of Tourism., "Annual Report 2007 - 08", 2008. |
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About Visa
Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com. | |
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