The Golden Temple in Amritsar, is witnessing a steady rise of foreign tourists, driven by the fact that this is the sole religious destination that is well connected by air.

This most exalted of all Sikh shrines, has drawn many international figures from foreign shores who have found solace here in the divine court. The year 2008 marked the presence of Cherie Blair, former British prime- minister Tony Blair, who had paid obeisance at Harmandir Sahib during her maiden visit to Punjab. She left behind her remarks ?I feel honoured to visit this holy and spiritual place,? in the visitors? book of the temple. It can be recalled here Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had visited this holy place on October 14, 1997. Later many top notches including Sikh-friendly former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the Premier of British Columbia (Canada), Gordon Campbell, mayor of London, Kenneth Robert Livingstone, then home secretary, UK David Blunkett and his predecessor as home secretary, Jack Straw.

Talking to FE, Gurbachan Singh, information officer, Golden Temple, Amritsar said, ? Though there are no statistics but approximately 10,000 tourists visit daily to pay obeisance at Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden temple) and during festivals the number of visitors goes up manifold. Earlier very few foreigners used to come here but now around 400-500 foreign nationals visit this place daily. Most of the crowd comes from Canada, UK, USA, Israel, Norway and Japan.?.

He also said that there was plan to introduce a separate information centre here for foreign tourists.

It may be mentioned here recently, an inn has been come up for non-resident Indians which is called ?Guru Gobind Singh NRI Yatri niwas?. This inn which offers amenities to suit foreign living style has been created by donations given by NRIs.

Moreover, United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is working on to prepare a master plan to promote tourism in the state where special emphasis will be given to religious-tourism giving special impetus to Golden temple to make it popular across the world.