After Covid lull for two years, tourism back in stride at Gir
The GSLCS has earned total Rs 8.77 crore revenue so far this year, including Rs 6.21 crore in the form of entry fee at Devaliya safari park, Rs 2.07 crore at GNPS and Rs 49.27 lakh at Ambardi Safari Park.
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Over 4.7 lakh tourists took safaris at Gir forest between April and November this year. File AFTER THE Covid-19 pandemic-induced lull for two years, tourism in Gir, world’s only home to lions outside Africa, is back in stride with safari permits and hotels booked almost fully till the second week of January.
“Booking has been very high since the second week of Dece-mber and will remain so till the end of second week of January,” Aradhana Sahu, chief conservator of forests (CCF) of Junagadh wildlife circle, says, adding, “Tourism had started picking up last season after the Covid-19 pandemic ebbed and this year, it is back in full swing.”
The Junagadh CCF is also the ex officio member secretary of the Gujarat State Lion Conservation Society (GSLCS), 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.
As per the latest data available with GSLCS, total 4.79 lakh tourists had enjoyed 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.
The GSLCS has earned total Rs 8.77 crore revenue so far this year, including Rs 6.21 crore in the form of entry fee at Devaliya safari park, Rs 2.07 crore at GNPS and Rs 49.27 lakh at Ambardi Safari Park.
The government charges Rs 800 per permit for Gir Jungle Safari inside the GNPS during weekdays and Rs 1,000 per permit during weekend and festival days. A Gir Jungle Safari costs around Rs 3,200.
For Devaliya safari park, charges for a safari on board a bus is Rs150 per person during weekdays and Rs190 on weekend and festival days.
A safari in a gypsy for up to six persons-plus-a-child costs Rs 2,800 during weekdays (including Rs 800 permit fee, Rs 400 guide fee and Rs1,600 gypsy rent), and Rs 3,000 during weekend and festival days.
The forest department had also started tourism inside the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (GWLS) on the outskirts of Junagadh city in January, 2021 and charges are similar to that of Gir Jungle Safari.
While GNPS and GWLS remain closed to tourists from June 16 to October 25 every year, the two safari parks remain open round the 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-’20 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-’21, 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.
Devaliya recorded 3.76 lakh visitors in 2021-’22, the highest in five years while Ambardi too registered arrivals of 33,054 tourists, the third highest in its history.
“The number of tourists remains low inside Gir sanctuary as there is an upper limit of 150 permits per day. On the other hand, there are no such restrictions at Devaliya and Ambardi as they are safari parks which are meant for educating people about Gir’s fauna and flora,” says the Junagadh CCF .
There is a change in tourists’ perception post the Covid-19 pandemic, says Mohan Ram, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) of Sanan and superintendent of GNPS.
“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,” says Ram.
The arrival of tourists is likely to give a boost to the tourism industry in the region. “There are around 200 properties, including hotels, guest houses and paying-guest facilities having around 2000 rooms cumulatively. Bookings have been excellent in December, with around 90 percent occupancy. The trend is likely to continue in January also,” says Mukesh Mehta, president Sasan Hotels Association.
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