The Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has recorded a footfall of over 50,000 domestic and foreign tourists in the first two months of the reopening of the park in October.
According to the park officials, 67,863 tourists, including foreign tourists have visited the park after it reopened on October 2. The park authority said that there were about 27,115 domestic tourists and 278 foreign tourists in October.
Similarly, the number of domestic tourists rose to about 39,130 last month i.e. in November and the foreign tourists rose to 1,340.
Ramesh Kumar Gogoi, divisional forest officer, Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, while quoted byTOI, “The turnout seems to be normal as of now, but we expect more tourists from the month of December onwards till the closing of the park next year in May 2023 subject to the monsoon season. There is already a flow of tourists in the park and this is a positive sign.”
DFO Gogoi also claimed that the park has become a high-end tourism destination. “KNP has become the most preferred destination. Nowadays, all the big conferences (government level) are held here, like the national seminar of judiciary, first ever SPs' conference. So this is a kind of tourism flow indirectly. And most importantly, Kaziranga never disappoints any of its tourists,” added the DFO.
Last year, the Kaziranga National Park received more domestic tourists than normal as Covid scare had drastically reduced the overseas tourist flow with just 733 choosing to visit the park. Around 2,20,027 domestic tourists thronged the park last season, a forest source informed. The revenue collected in the last season was approximately Rs 4,46,75,660, the source added.
