Dhaka: India received the highest number of tourists in February last from Bangladesh among 15 source countries, resulting in growing contribution to India's economy by Bangladeshi tourists.

The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during February 2017 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (17.46 percent) followed by the UK (12.20 percent), the USA (11.83 percent), Russian (4.29 percent), Canada (4.26 percent), France (3.25 percent), Germany (3.11 percent), China (2.96 percent), Sri Lanka (2.91 percent), Australia (2.62 percent), Malaysia (2.55 percent), Japan (2.26 percent), Thailand (1.83 percent), Afghanistan (1.73 percent) and Nepal (1.50 percent).

The Ministry of Tourism, India compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) and FTAs on e-Tourist Visa on the basis of nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).

The number of FTAs in February was 9.56 lakh as compared to FTAs of 8.47 lakh in February last year and 7.61 lakh in February, 2015, according to an Indian government document obtained by UNB.

The growth rate in FTAs in February, 2017 over February, 2016 is 13.0 percent compared to 11.3 percent in February, 2016 over February, 2015, shows the data released on Friday.

FTAs during January-February 2017 were 19.40 lakh with a growth of 14.7 percent compared to the FTAs of 16.91 lakh with a growth of 9.0 percent in January-February 2016 over January-February 2015.

During the month of February, 2017 total of 1.70 lakh tourists went to India on e-Tourist Visas compared to 1.17 lakh during the month of February 2016, registering a growth of 45.2 percent.