'Incredible India' attracted close to five million foreign visitors this year as the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) had its share of glory and missed opportunities despite its failure to woo one lakh foreign tourists during the 2010 Commonwealth Games as targeted,

With a double-digit growth in the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs), 2010 was otherwise a good year for the ministry. Incredible India campaign attracted 4.93 million foreign tourists till November last year as compared to 4.46 million during the same period in 2009, registering a growth of 10.4 per cent. 

The year began on a promising note with Visa on Arrival (VoA) scheme introduced for tourists from Singapore, Finland, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Japan. A total number of 5,644 VoAs were issued under this scheme during January-November 2010. Maximum tourists from Singapore (1,623) followed by New Zealand (1,604), Japan (1,241), Finland (1,123) and Luxembourg (53) availed the scheme. Encouraged by the response, the VoA scheme is being extended for five more countries Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Philippines with effect from January 1, 2011. 

MoT also issued licenses to 450 fully trained tourist guides to cater to the growing number of foreign tourists in India. 

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