"The growth of foreign tourists in January and February (2013) has been positive and not negative, as reported by the media," Chiranjeevi said here, addressing an audience at a tourism-related public function here.

"Arrivals (of foreign tourists) have grown by 2.1 percent in these two months, and the foreign exchange earnings rose by 19.8 percent in terms of rupees and 11.4 percent in terms of (US) dollars... This is very encouraging," he said.