New Delhi, Apr 07: Tourist arrivals into India rose 28.2% in March to 282,435 from 220,308 a year ago, the tourism and culture ministry said in a release. In the first three months of 2004, tourist arrivals into India rose 22.7% to 946,447 from 771,294 same period last year. Foreign exchange earnings from tourist arrivals in January-March grew 34.6% to USD 1.168 billion from $0.868 billion in the same period last year.

In March, foreign exchange earnings from tourist arrivals grew 39.6% to $348 million from $249 million a year ago. India's tourism industry has been booming since the beginning of 2003. Tourist arrivals into India grew 15.3% in 2003 to 2.750 million from 2.384 million in the previous year. Bureau Report