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NEW DELHI: Are foreign tourists keeping away from India? Latest data from the tourism ministry appears to suggest so. Growth in foreign tourist arrivals has dropped to a two-year low of 4.5% with 7.1 million visiting India till November this year.In fact popular tourist haunts like Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have all shown a drop in foreign tourist visits in 2014 as compared to the previous year.Blow to Goa as Russia strikes India off its safe travel destinations listForeign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the period January- November 2015 was 7.1 million with a growth of 4.5%, as compared to FTAs of 7.68 million with a growth of 10.2% in 2014. In comparison, India received 6.97 million visitors registering a growth of 5.9% in 2013 from the previous year.As a consequence, foreign exchange earnings have declined from USD 2023 million in 2014 to 1768.5 million reflecting a negative growth of 3.8%.In fact, foreign exchange earnings in November 2015 registered a decline of a drastic 15.2% over November 2014 as compared to positive growth of 6.9% in November 2014 over November 2013. This could spell bad news since this is India’s peak tourist season.Taj Mahal gets 23% of foreign tourists visiting India - Mahesh Sharma in Rajya SabhaThe dip in interest is also reflected in the reduced duration of stay. Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma recently admitted that in 2011-12, foreign tourists used to stay for an average of 20-22 days in India which has now come down to 18-20 days. India receives less than 1% of international tourists annually.Industry insiders say it is a combination of factors that could be impacting India’s tourism appeal. Natural disasters like J&K floods and the Nepal earthquake affected foreign tourist arrivals while the perception that India is not a safe destination continued to prevail."We have witnessed a slowdown in growth and there could be a number of factors behind this. The perception that India is not safe, will not disappear overnight. I also feel there is confusion over the online visa which many travelers still perceive as visa on arrival," Sharat Dhall, Yatra.com president said. He added that the growing pollution in Delhi could adversely impact tourists. "I can see that looming in the horizon where just as Beijing is seen as hardship posting, foreigners will avoid India too."Hotel occupancy in Manali dips below 5%