More Americans Travel to India Than to Ireland and Thailand

India continues to rise to the top of international destinations for American tourists, as U.S Department of Commerce data shows that more citizens visited India last year than went to Ireland or Thailand, the Associated Press reports. The country is now as popular as Spain when it comes to American travelers.

Nearly 5 million Americans traveled to India in 2007, almost double the number in 2000, and an increase of percent from the previous year. The U.S. travelers made up 15.7 percent of the total visitors to India. In addition to the large number of business travelers, wealthy retirees seeking luxury travel and citizens of Indian origin interested in seeing their ancestors' homeland complete the majority of visitors from the United States.

A surging economy, plethora of international airlines flying into New Delhi and an aggressive marketing campaign by the Tourism Ministry account for the booming number of American tourists to India.