After two pandemic-affected years, the tourism industry in the Nilgiris rebounded in 2022, with a total of 24.12 lakh visitors, officials from the Tourism and Horticulture Departments said.
Figures reveal that a total of 24,12,483 people visited the Government Botanical Garden (GBG) in 2022. The number of visitors to the garden is generally used as a parameter to gauge the tourist inflow into the district each year, as a majority of visitors to the district invariably visit the tourist location, officials said.
Though the 2022 figures are much higher than 2021, when around 10 lakh visitors had been recorded, the numbers are still considerably lower than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to officials, 28.68 lakh people had visited the GBG in 2018 and 29.72 lakh people had visited the following year just prior to the pandemic.
“People are still finding the confidence to travel following the pandemic, which could be one of the reasons that the numbers are lower now than in the years prior to the pandemic,” said an official from the Horticulture Department.
However, hotel and restaurant owners in the district stated that they were extremely relieved that 2022 has witnessed such a significant upturn in fortunes for the tourism sector. “Many hotels, resorts and restaurants had to be permanently closed down or had to be sold due to the pandemic. Due to the lifting of restrictions, the sector has had a good year in 2022,” said a hotel owner from the Nilgiris.
N. Chandrashekar, honorary secretary of the Nilgiri Hotel and Restaurant Association said that tourist inflow had picked up since March 2022 and continued till December of the same year. “We expect another surge in visitors during the Pongal holidays,” he said.
Officials from the Tourism Department said that visitors to the Ooty Lake and Boat House as well as the Pykara Dam had also increased in 2022.
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