Wildlife tourism this winter season has been affected. Foreign tourists haven’t come in the numbers expected. That was partly owing to the uncertainty created by a Supreme Court order in July banning tourism activities in the tiger reserve forests. Subsequently, the Court lifted the ban in October last. But by then bookings by foreign tourists had already been cancelled.

India ended up being highlighted as a “chaotic and a challenging” destination for tourists. Inbound tourists account for about 10 to 15 per cent of the total arrivals. “Tiger tourism is an intrinsic part of our inbound business – India being known as the land of the Taj Mahal, tigers and temples and cultural tours too having a wildlife extension. We estimate the drop (in bookings from inbound) to be a minimum of 40 per cent,” said Surinder Sodhi, Senior Vice President and Head, Leisure Travel - Inbound.

The wildlife tourism industry, now, has pinned hopes on domestic tourists. Tour operators say that the temporary ban on wildlife tourism did not have a significant impact on domestic tourism. This is because domestic tourism has a very short lead time and is predominantly weekend travel, especially in the case of travelling to national parks, the industry players say.

“The decision to travel is often impulsive. For instance, 60 per cent of the domestic travellers going to the Corbett National Park from Delhi decide to travel merely a week prior. This is vast contrast to inbound travellers, who would have a minimum lead time of 75-90 days to plan their travel,” Sodhi added.

Tour operators, however, do not expect a dramatic surge in wildlife bookings. “We hope the wildlife enthusiasts who had postponed their trip, will now reconsider,” said an online travel portal. Thomas Cook India is now keen on promoting some of the lesser known parks such as Pench, Tadoba, Madumalai and Nagarhole, Manas, Sunderban and Kaziranga.

Even as the tourism industry hopes on domestic tourists mount, some wildlife conservationists feel that wildlife tourism in India may become more expensive in the coming years as a result of the new directives by the Supreme Court banning the construction of new resorts near the forests. “This will lead to a monopoly of existing resorts, especially in emerging forests such as Tadoba and Pench in Madhya Pradesh,” said Shivang Mehta of Nature Wanderers, an organisation of wildlife photographers and nature lovers. However, Mehta feels that for the long-term goal of conservation, this will be a small sacrifice.

nivedita.ganguly@thehindu.co.in

comment COMMENT NOW