"Besides increasing our presence in Latin American and other East European countries, we are in discussion with the civil aviation ministry and airlines for launching direct air-connectivity between South American countries and India," tourism secretary Shailbhadra Banerjee told ET. "Despite the worldwide economic slowdown and negative sentiment, India has seen impressive growth in the sector in the last few months," he added.

According to tourism industry data, foreign tourist arrivals to India from the East European countries increased 25.9% in 2007 over the previous year. Tourists from the Scandanavian countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden also visited India in good numbers during this period. India witnessed 36.5% growth in tourist traffic coming from these countries in 2007, according to the latest data available with the ministry of tourism.

"We want to make India a repeat destination for tourists from across the world. Though so far we have not increased our promotional activities in Africa beyond South Africa, we are looking at other countries in the region as potential source market," Mr Banerjee said.

A total of 4.29 lakh foreign tourists visited India in July this year, up 7.44% over 3.99 lakh in the corresponding period the previous year. India earned a forex of $904 million from tourism during this period.