The number of people travelling from India to the United States fell by 5% in 2017, data released by the US Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Trade Office showed on Wednesday. While 11.72 lakh people from India visited the US in 2016, it declined to 11.14 lakh in 2017.

The decline is the first in eight years. In 2009, around 5.47 lakh Indians visited America, a decline of 8% over the previous year. However, the National Trade and Travel Office has forecast an increase in the number of Indian visitors to the US every year from 2018 to 2022.

“There has been a perception in recent times that travel to the US may have become more difficult, especially after some entry restrictions there for certain nationalities,” an unidentified travel agent told The Times of India on Thursday. “However, that is a wrong perception. For the right travellers, the US is as open as it always was.”

Another travel agent said that America’s openness to Indian visitors is proved by the fact that the US routinely issues a 10-year validity, multiple entry visa to most Indian applicants under the B1 and B2 tourist category.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Commerce said: “US welcomed nearly 7.7 crore international visitors into the country who collectively spent a record-setting $251.4 billion experiencing the US in 2017, an increase of 2% compared to 2016.”