The post-lockdown rush of tourists led to the highest annual footfall in rhino hub, Kaziranga National Park in Assam and helped the authorities record highest-ever annual revenue of Rs. 6 crores.
Assam forest department on Wednesday said Kaziranga reported footfall of 2.75 lakh tourists during 2021-22, against 1.88 lakh in 2017-18.
Jatindra Sarma, director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve said in a statement that altogether 2,75,835 tourists visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site Park between October 2021 to May 2022, setting an all-time record revenue collection of Rs.6,39,23,389.
"Altogether 2,74,116 domestic and 1,719 foreign tourists visited the park.
In 2020-2021 the park received 1,67,644 tourists with total revenue garnered being Rs.3,60,00,611. In the year 2019-2020, a total of 1,42,859 tourists visited the park, generating revenue of Rs.4,20,63,541. The tourist flow to the park was affected during the period 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2018-2019, the inflow of tourists was partially affected due to Covid," Sharma said.
The latest rhino census in Kaziranga found 2,613 one-horned rhinos. Royal Bengal tiger, swamp deer, wild buffalo, large number of birds and other animals are other atrractions for tourists in the park.
Kaziranga was recently closed and would remain shut for tourists till the flood is over. Normally it remains open between October and May.