The news that more foreign tourists visited Bihar in 2008 than ever before has pleasantly surprised me. As per the article dated 2nd Sept 2009, appearing in Times of India , 3,45,572 foreign tourists visited Bihar in 2008. In 2005 the number of foreign tourists visiting India was 63,321. This is over 5 times increase in foreigners visiting Bihar and this is a very good sign specially as this number was next only to Goa's.
Dy. Chief Minister Sushil Modi has attributed this to better law and order situation, improvement in tourists’ facilities and positive changes in the state. I will tend to agree with his statement. The dramatic increase in foreign tourists illustrates how a positive change in basic infrastructure and security can have an all round impact on the state. Bihar has a lot of opportunities to build global tourism destinations . Many of the tourist locations like Nalanda, Rajgir, Kesariya Stupa, Gaya, Tutla falls, etc can easily be developed into international tourism destinations of repute. I am sure the government has this in mind and will develop more and better infrastructure that will attract big revenues from tourists internationally and domestically that will in turn aid in the faster development of Bihar. If some people in the government have not realized this, I am sure they will, after hearing or reading this article in Times of India. The detailed article can be found in Times of India : Over 3.4 lakh foreigners visited state in 2008 -- Posted By Prashant to Bihar's - Change in Destiny and Progress at 9/02/2009 06:39:00 PM
