New Delhi It’s not the beaches of Goa or backwaters of Kerala that entice domestic tourists. Uttar Pradesh tops the chart of domestic tourist visits, registering 155.4 million of them in 2011. In fact, the state pipped Andhra Pradesh this year to bag the top slot.

According to the ministry of tourism data, the number of domestic tourist visits (DTVs) to the states and Union territories during 2011 was 851 million, registering a strong growth of 13.8% over the previous year. This, despite the economic slowdown. There were 748 million domestic tourist visits in 2010 and 669 million in 2009.