Better law and order and commendable connectivity has resulted in 47.61 crore tourists visiting Uttar Pradesh in the last 9 months.

The figure included 47.47 crore domestic and more than 14 lakh foreign ones. As a result, tremendous enthusiasm was seen among the businessmen and traders associated with the tourism sector.

Besides, investment, employment and the local economy gained dynamism. The state government is trying to give priority to the tourism sector so that every foreign tourist coming to the country must visit Uttar Pradesh at least once. A tourist friendly environment has been prepared for the purpose.

The information was shared by UP Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh on Wednesday. He said religion and spirituality are the main focus to increase state tourism. An unexpected increase in the number of devotees has been recorded after the consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Maryadapurushottam Lord Shri Ram, he said.

According to government statistics, 13,55,90,523 tourists came to Ayodhya in the last nine months, of which 1,35,58,7,370 were domestic tourists and 3,153 were foreign devotees.

Similarly, a total of 6,81,55,926 devotees reached Mathura, the place of Lord Krishna, which included 6,80,68697 domestic and 87,229 foreign tourists.

Kashi is world famous as the oldest city which sits on the trident of Lord Shiva. A total of 6,27,18,417 devotees came here, of which 6,25,34,381 were domestic and 184,036 were foreign tourists. Prayagraj, also known as Tirtharaj, received a total of 4,80,10,970 tourists, which included 4,80,06,180 domestic and 4790 foreign tourists. A total of 1,18,18,401 tourists arrived in Mirzapur.

State Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said apart from Varanasi and Mathura, a large number of foreign tourists reached places like Agra and Kushinagar. As many as 16,20,920 tourists came to Kushinagar, of which 1,53,165 were foreign and 14,67,755 were domestic tourists. A total of 1,25,18,887 tourists came to Agra, of which 1,15,94,626 are domestic and 9,24,261 are foreigners.

A total of 86,215 tourists came to Siddharthnagar, including 75,343 domestic and 10,872 foreign devotees. Kushinagar and Siddharthnagar are important destinations on the Buddhist circuit. Tourists have also shown a lot of interest in the eco circuit. 46,52,805 tourists have arrived in Lakhimpur Kheri, 30,61,800 in Pilibhit, 34,41,081 in Bijnor and 19,42,063 in Sonbhadra.

Jaiveer Singh said that ”the guests are revered by us and serving them is our good fortune”.

” Last year, 48 crore tourists came in the entire 12 month-period while almost the same number reached in just nine months of the current year. The government is continuously making efforts to provide better experience to the tourists,” he said and added that ”it is our endeavor that every tourist coming here should work as a brand ambassador of UP Tourism”.