Wagamon, one of the State’s major adventure tourism hill stations, gets more visitors than Munnar hill station.
According to data from the Idukki District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), the destinations under DTPC in Wagamon witnessed a higher tourist turnout than Munnar Hill station, with the number of tourists doubling within just eight months this year.
The data by DTPC showed that during the seven days from August 4, 2022, to August 11, 2022, a total of 1,877 tourists visited Mattupetty and 1,477 tourists visited Botanical Garden in Munnar. “From August 27, 2023, to September 3, 2023, the figure was 3,660 for Mattupetty and 10,267 for Botanical Garden.
Meanwhile, during the seven days from August 4, 2022, to August 11, 2022, 19,94,9 tourists visited Wagamon Meadows and 6,634 tourists visited Wagamon Adventure Park. This year, during the August 27 to September 3 period, 46,23,0 tourists visited Wagamon Meadows and 35,74,8 tourists visited Wagamon Adventure Park.
DTPC secretary Jitheesh Jose said that Wagamon was emerging as one of the major adventure tourism destinations in the State. “We hope India’s largest cantilever glass bridge and other adventure tourism activities will attract more tourists to Wagamon. DTPC is planning to set up more adventure tourism activities through public-private-partnership (PPP) in Wagamon,” said the official.
As per figures on records at the Wagamon Meadows and Adventure Park, over 6,45,600 tourists visited Wagamon from January 1 to December 31, 2022. The headcount of visitors this year from January 1 to August 31 is 11,50,50. Compared to the previous year, the number of tourists nearly doubled within just an eight-month period this year, Mr. Jose said.
Wagamon Meadows, Pine Valley, Wagamon Lake, Thangalpara, Kurisumala, and Adventure Park, are the major attractions at Wagamon hill station.
Activities such as paragliding was a reason why Wagamon was sought-after, said Jobin Yendayar, a paraglider. “A large number of visitors arrive at Wagamon to enjoy paragliding. In addition, the tourism destinations in Wagamon are situated within a five-km radius and tourists can visit the entire place within one day,” he said.
Another reason for Wagamon as the choice was less crowded roads. “To avoid the rush during holidays and weekends, most of the tourists avoid Munnar visit and prefer Wagamon,” said the source.
