Karnataka - Mysore   

Dasara tourist inflow high this year

MYSORE: Notwithstanding the terror threat that hung over Mysore Dasara, the inflow of tourists to the city during the ten-day festival registered an increase compared to last year.

The number of people who visited the Mysore Palace and the zoo, two of the most prominent places of tourist interest in the city, points towards this.

A statement issued by the Executive Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, said that the zoo had attracted 1.4 lakh visitors during the ten-day period against the 1.29 lakh last year.

The gate collection at the zoo stood at Rs. 35.33 lakh as against Rs. 31.51 lakh last year.

“The number of visitors and the gate revenue this year are a record in the history of the zoo during Dasara festivities”, the statement said.

The number of visitors to the zoo has been increasing every year. If it was 1.04 lakh in 2006 with gate collection amounting to Rs. 25.19 lakh, the number went up to 1.29 lakh with gate collection of Rs. 31.51 lakh respectively in 2007.

“This year, the zoo has broken all records. There were 1.4 lakh visitors and the gate collection revenue was Rs. 35.33 lakh”, a zoo official said.

The number of visitors to the zoo, which began with a modest 2,463 on the first day of Dasara on September 30, rose to a record 25,647 on October 9 (Vijayadashami day). On October 2, which was a holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti and Id-ul-Fitr, 21,371 people visited the zoo.

The zoo officials said that the staff had found it difficult to control the large number of visitors to the zoo premises during the ten-day-long festival.

There used to be traffic jams outside the zoo, and tourist vehicles were jostling for space not only in the parking area, but also on the road and adjoining lanes and bylanes.

The Mysore Palace too witnessed a rise in the number of visitors.

Without counting the number of people coming to see the illumination in the evenings, an estimated 1,13,000 people purchased tickets to enter the Mysore Palace this year as against last year’s 89,100.

Palace Board officials said that Rs. 23.41 lakh had been collected as entry fee this year against Rs. 18.9 lakh last year. An estimated 100,000 people visited the Dasara exhibition during the ten-day festival.

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