Tourist footfall decreases at Ellora, other ASI sites in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Tourist footfall at ASI monuments in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district including Ajanta and Ellora Caves decreased by almost 50 per cent between March 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024, data showed.

As many as 50,50,071 domestic tourists had visited `ticketed monuments' of the Archaeological Survey of India -- Ajanta and Ellora Cave Complex, Bibi ka Maqbara, Daulatabad (Devgiri) fort and Aurangabad caves -- from March 1, 2023, to November 30, 2023. The footfall of foreign tourists stood at 35,618 during this period.

But the domestic tourist footfall came down by nearly half to 24,94,570 and that of foreign tourists was 30,884 during the same period in 2024, ASI officials said.

The World Heritage Site of Ellora remained the favorite destination with 10,60,741 tourists visiting the cave complex.

President of the Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) Jaswant Singh blamed "negative publicity" about the condition of roads for the shrinking footfall.

Air connectivity of the city too has declined while hotels have become expensive, he said.