The Ministry of Tourism regularly promotes diverse tourist destinations and experiences of India including Buddhist sites through various initiatives including promotional events, participation in travel exhibitions and fairs in domestic and international markets familiarization (FAM) tours, influencers programmes, assistance to State Governments/Union Territories for organizing fairs and festivals, website, amplification through social media handles etc.

Further, the Ministry under its Schemes of Swadesh Darshan, Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD), Assistance to Central Agencies (ACA), Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD) and Special Assistance to States/Union Territories for Capital Investment (SASCI) has sanctioned several projects to develop tourism infrastructure and amenities, in the country including Buddhist tourism sites.

The details of tourist footfall in Siddharthnagar district during the last five years are as follows:

Year	DTVs	FTVs	Total
2025 (Provisional)	195941	23341	219282
2024	100595	17546	118141
2023	392516	11797	404313
2022	222289	109	222398
2021	370975	90	371065
Total	12,82,316	52,883	13,35,199

*DTVs - Domestic Tourist Visits / FTVs – Foreign Tourist Visits

The Government has taken significant steps to improve connectivity (road, air and rail connectivity) across Buddhist cultural and heritage sites in the country including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Lumbini in Nepal is connected to Siddharthnagar in India through NH-233. The Ministry of Railways also operates theme based tourist circuit trains covering Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Lumbini and Sharavasti.

The Ministry of Tourism regularly engages with neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand under the framework of international tourism cooperation, with a focus on promoting tourism including Buddhist tourism.

This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today

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M Annadurai

(Release ID: 2237052) Visitor Counter : 184