Americans flocking eastern metropolis

Americans constituted the bulk of 1,26,543 foreign tourists visiting the city of joy last year, according to the Regional Tourist office here.

Americans constituted around 20,971 or 16.57 per cent of the total visitors. They were closely followed by the British, who constituted around 19,124 or 15.11 per cent of the total foreign tourists.

The third largest group of foreigners was from Japan. A total of 6799 Japanese tourists came here in 2007.

The other tourists were from countries like Australia, Nepal, Thailand, Canada, Germany, China, South Korea, Singapore, Bhutan, France, Myanmar, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, Taiwan and Sweden, besides others.

In 2006, 98,307 foreign tourists came on a visit of which Americans constituted around 17408 or 17.71 per cent of the total tourists. The British were the second largest group consisting of 16,706 people or 16.99 per cent of the total.