Kaziranga: In a pleasing development for the Assam tourism sector, Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has broken all previous records in terms of the tourist footfall fetching an unprecedented revenue for the government exchequer, data have revealed.
According to the data released by the Director's office in Bokakhat, a total of 3,27,493 tourists visited Kaziranga in the financial year 2023-24. Of these, a total of 3,13,574 were domestic tourists and 13,919 foreign tourists. The visits fetched a whopping over Rs 8.81 crore in revenue to the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve Forest, data said.
Notably, out of the three forest divisions of Kaziranga National Park, The East Assam Wildlife Division collected revenue of Rs 8,59,48,351 from a total of 32,0961 tourists and Nagaon forest division collected revenue of Rs 62,400 from 3,484 tourists and the Biswanath Forest Division collected Rs 16,11,810 from 3,048 tourists.
In the last financial year 2022-23, Kaziranga received a total revenue of Rs 8,33,85,483 from a total of 3,14,796 domestic and foreign tourists, said the data. In comparison there was an increase of 12,697 domestic and foreign tourists in the financial year 2023 -24 compared to last year and Kaziranga National Park managed to earn higher revenue of Rs 47,98,678 than previous year as per the data.
In the middle of October 2023, after the monsoon, the world heritage site had been re-opened for tourists in the current financial year. The authorities informed that tourists have been provided with new facilities of cycling in Karbi-Anglong, Trekking in the Panbari Reserve Forest and Chirang in Burhapahar.
The park authorities informed that two food centers called the Soran-Ahem run by the Karbi community and the Ajun Ukum by the Mising community, besides the women-led eatery in Bura Chapori, 'bisag-na soo', has also been set up for the tourists to enjoy traditional food.
Moreover, boating services to watch river dolphins at Brahmaputra river along with jeep and cycle safaris at Panpur and Budha Chapri were also started in the current financial year that led to a rise in footfall in the renowned tourist destination as per officials.
