Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh has become India’s most famous tourist destination all due the the large crowd of pilgrimage at Tirupati Balaji temple.
Last year it attracted record 206.8 million domestic tourists  followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh at 184.1 million and 168.4 million domestic tourists respectively.
The Lord Venkateswara temple is situated in the hill town of Tirumala near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, around 600 km from state capital Hyderabad. The 10th century Hindu temple attracts more tourists than domestic visitors to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra which boast of Taj Mahal and Ajanta-Ellora respectively.
The footfall at domestic tourist destinations across the country witnessed a surge touching 1,036 million compared to 865 million in 2011 — an increase of 19.87 per cent. It was 748 million in 2010. According to the data, the top ten states in terms of number of domestic tourist visits (in millions) during 2012 are: Andhra Pradesh (206.8), Tamil Nadu (184.1), Uttar Pradesh (168.4), Karnataka (94.1), Maharashtra (66.3), Madhya Pradesh (53.2), Rajasthan (28.6), Uttarakhand (26.8), Gujarat (24.4) and West Bengal (22.7). These states accounted for 84.5 per cent of the total number of domestic tourists during 2012. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country too registered a growth of 6.33 per cent during the same year.