For the first time after a gap of nearly two-and-a-half years, the century-old Mysuru zoo, which faced a serious financial crisis with the drastic reduction in footfall over lockdown and COVID-19 curbs, recorded 24,000 visitors on a single day on August 14. This is the highest footfall recorded post-pandemic, and the exuberant zoo management cited continuous holidays as the reason.
The zoo has a record of attracting over 25,000 visitors during pre-COVID-19 years, particularly during Dasara festivities.
Expressing happiness over the record footfall post-COVID-19 crisis, Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni said the zoo attracted nearly 11,000 visitors on August 13 and 13,000 on August 14. In a span of three days, the zoo attracted nearly 50,000 tourists.
He, however, said complete revival of tourism is yet to happen as 60 per cent of recovery has occurred since the pandemic if the statistics on the footfalls recorded so far since pandemic are analysed.
“It may take some more time for the tourist sites to get back the footfalls of pre COVID-19 days. But the recovery is happening and the control of COVID-19 is the biggest factor driving tourism,” the stakeholders said.
The zoo parking lot was packed to its capacity and the tourists’ vehicles had to be parked on the Doddakere Maidan in front of the palace as tourists came in hordes to the city of palaces in view of the long weekend.
Other major tourist sites in Mysuru, mainly the palace, also witnessed heavy rush on all three days. The special celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in the backdrop of the illuminated palace on August 14 was another reason for the visitors to make a beeline to the city.
The tourists’ surge raised hopes of a revival of tourism, bringing cheer among stakeholders who endured two years of financial distress on account of the pandemic.
There was a similar turnout of tourists to the zoo and palace in April this year. The key reason for the large turnout early this year was the long weekend and Vishu festival. In the absence of COVID-19 restrictions, a large number of people from Kerala thronged Mysuru during the festive season.
The turnout at the zoo on April 15, 16, 17 was the largest. The zoo recorded 15,000 visitors on April 15, 18,000 on April 16 and 13,000 on April 17.
Hotels registered 100% occupancy during the last weekend, which was heartening for the hospitality sector struggling to recover from the impact of COVID-19. Stakeholders say that the lifting of inter-State travel restrictions early this year resuscitated the travel and tourism industry.
The Mysuru palace and zoo, which used to attract over 10,000 tourists before the pandemic, primarily depend on gate collections for their maintenance. The fall in revenue had put them in financial distress and zoo authorities had sought donations from the public for upkeep of animals and the premises.
