Thiruvananthapuram: For the second year running, Kerala has been rated as the best tourist destination in India by a Nielsen survey.

The survey, conducted by Nielsen for Outlook Traveller, affirms the state's huge tourist appeal, infrastructure and scenic grandeur.

'The Outlook survey has come as a big endorsement for Brand Kerala. It will spur us to take it forward with many more new initiatives,' said Tourism Secretary T.K. Manoj Kumar Saturday.

The survey also found Kerala as the second best state for winter destination after Goa, while Rajasthan and the Andamans occupied the third and fourth slots, respectively.

Two major factors for choosing the best winter destination, like in the previous year, were 'scenic beauty' and 'value for money'.

In the category of beach destinations, Kerala occupies the fourth place.

Another highlight of the survey is the coastal city of Kochi, which has emerged as the sixth best city for tourists after Jaipur, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Fort Kochi found a place in the list of 12 best heritage sites with a 10th place ranking.

This rating has come at a time when the arrival of international tourists into Kerala grew from 6.50 lakh in 2010 to 7.3 lakh in 2011.

The number of domestic tourists grew from 85 lakh to 93 lakh and on the revenue side, the total foreign exchange earnings grew by 11.18 percent to touch 4,221 crore, while the total earnings grew 9.40 percent to reach 19,037 crore.