The Taj Mahal city tops favourite tourism spot

New Delhi: Around 80 lakh tourists visited the Agra Archaeological Circle, comprising eight monuments, in 2010-11 with the Taj Mahal the top favourite.

The Agra circle wrested the lion`s share of domestic and foreign footfalls in 2010-11 with 66,59,503 Indian and 13,30,696 foreign tourists. The Taj Mahal topped the list of Agra circle monumnets with 41,81,228 Indian tourists and 6,23,944 foreign tourists, a big leap from the figures in 2009-10. Madhya Pradesh was another centre of tourist attraction with 15,01,339 Indian and 1,21,812 foreign tourists visiting it in 2010-11. Delhi remained a preferred destination for 64,42,952 Indian and 7,04,587 foreign tourists. Barring Agra, almost all the nine archaeological circles recorded more domestic arrivals than foreign tourists, showing a sharp rise in the level of domestic tourism. IANS