This Dasara, the Mysuru zoo attracted more visitors, improving its revenue. In a span of 10 days, 1.65 lakh people visited the zoo and the gate revenue realised was ₹1.59 crore.
A record number of tourists visited the zoo on the day of Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami, which were public holidays. A total of 30,273 people came on Ayudha Puja and 28,386 on Vijayadashami, realising a revenue of ₹29.27 lakh and ₹28.28 lakh respectively. This is the biggest earnings for the zoo in a single day.
Zoo Director Ajit Kulkarni said the number of visitors and the revenue generated was highest during Dasara festivities this year.
The zoo was kept open on Tuesdays too during the festivities though it happens to be its weekly holiday for maintenance reasons, to facilitate tourists’ visit.
In 2016, 1.24 lakh people visited the zoo and the revenue generated was ₹70.53 lakh. In 2017 and 2018, the number of visitors was 1.23 lakh and 1.53 lakh respectively. The revenue earned in these years was ₹69.17 lakh and ₹105.64 lakh respectively.
The number of visitors on Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami in the last three years was 26,191 and 25, 504 in 2016; 15,449 and 31,722 in 2017; and 22,398 and 32,301 in 2018.
One reason attributed to the jump in footfalls was the curiosity among the visitors to see the animals and birds that were added recently, especially the white rhinoceros pair which was brought from Singapore zoo.
The two-year-old Oban and 3.9-year-old Vita had been kept in quarantine on arrival and displayed for the first time at the zoo during the festivities.
After a gap of three years, Mysuru zoo got an opportunity to house the Southern white rhinoceros. The head-keeper in Singapore zoo had accompanied the rhinos from Singapore.
Published - October 20, 2019 10:14 pm IST
