Foreign tourist arrivals in India in the peak tourism season of 2009-10 is set to witness a growth of 25 per cent over the same period of 2008-09. After battling a phase of slowdown which began from the second half of 2008-09, the economy is on the recovery track, bringing cheer to the travel and tourism industry in the country.

The peak tourism season in the country begins from November and continues up to February. The tour operators have witnessed a 20 per cent jump in bookings in the months of November and December 2009. Vijay Thakur, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), ''India is set to witness a growth of 25 per cent in the peak tourism season of 2009-10 in terms of foreign tourist arrivals. The growth in inbound tourist arrivals to the country would come on the back of the revival in the economy.''

To give a further boost to the tourist arrivals, IATO has drawn up plans to hold roadshows in USA, UK, European Union nations and Australia in 2010 to hard sell India as a tourist hub. ''We have already given a proposal to the Union ministry of tourism for conducting these roadshows to pull the foreign tourists to India. This time, we are trying to bring in more long haul foreign tourists'', Thakur said.

IATO had earlier sought reduction in the tax component on the tariff of tour packages of international tourists to boost India''s inbound tourist inflow. At present, the various taxes like luxury tax and service tax account for 40-45 per cent of the cost of tour packages for the international tourists. IATO is in favour of bringing down the share of taxes in cost of the tour packages, designed for the international tourists, to 15 per cent.

The association had also demanded that the luxury tax should be levied on the actual tariff of the hotels and not on the printed tariff. India has targeted to attract 10 million foreign tourists by 2010, almost double the figure which the country achieved in 2008. The country recorded foreign tourist arrivals of 5.37 million in 2008 and earned foreign exchange worth Rs 50,730 crore.