Monday, January 2, 2023
Tourism in Gir, world’s only home to lions outside Africa, is shining once again after a two year hiatus due to Covid 19 pandemic. Safari permits and hotels are booked almost fully till the second week of January.
“Tourism had started picking up last season after the Covid-19 pandemic ebbed and this year, it is back in full swing.” Indian Express quoted Aradhana Sahu, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) of Junagadh Wildlife circle as saying. She added, “Booking has been very high since the second week of December and will remain so till the end of second week of January.”
On the other hand, Mohan Ram, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Sanan and Superintendent of GNPS pointed out the optimistic outlook of the tourists which has given an impetus to tourism in the area.
“Tourist footfall was quite high during Diwali festivities and the ongoing Christmas festivities. This could be due to people feeling it safe to tour with their families after around two years of pandemic. However, there is a marked change in tourists’ perception. Through my interactions with tourists, I have gathered that post the pandemic, there is a trend to go back to nature,” Ram said to Indian Express.
Total 4.79 lakh tourists undertook safaris inside the three tourism facilities inside Gir forest between April and November this year, the maximum of 3.57 lakh being in the interpretation zone popularly called Devaliya Safari Park, 93,692 at GNPS and 28,346 at Ambardi Safari Park near Dhari in Amreli district, as per the Gujarat State Lion Conservation Society (GSLCS) data.
GSLCS is a body functioning under the aegis of the Gujarat forest department. It gets proceeds generated in the form of entry fee for safaris inside the Gir National Park and Sanctuary, Gir Interpretation Zone (GIZ), Devaliya in Gir (west) wildlife division and Ambardi Safari Park in Gir (east) wildlife division and spends it on lion conservation initiatives.
The forest department had also started tourism inside the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (GWLS) on the outskirts of Junagadh city in January, 2021. GNPS and GWLS remain closed to tourists from June 16 to October 25 every year.
“The number of visitors is fairly good so far this year and we expect it to be at par with pre-pandemic years though we will have to wait and see how the news about the fears of Covid 19 resurgence affects the mood,” Sahu says.
While the 2019-2020 tourism season was cut short as parks were closed on March 21 before the nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March 23, more than 5.70 lakh tourists had visited the three parks by then, generating Rs11.41 crore revenue for the forest department.
That was fractionally lower than 5.73 lakh tourists and Rs11.90 core revenue reported in 2018-19. However, in the start-stop season of 2020-2021, the numbers fell to 2.82 lakh and Rs10.26 crores respectively.
According to the government data, in 2018-’19, more than 1.54 lakh tourists went on Gir Jungle Safari. The number fell to 1.52 lakh in 2019-20. It slid further to 1.10 lakh in 2020-21 before recovering and going up to 1.33 lakh in 2021-’22.
Tags: COVID-19 pandemic, gujarat
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