Heavy tourist flow in TN’s Nilgiris as area opens up after Covid

CHENNAI: The tourist flow in Tamil Nadu's hill tourist destination of the Nilgiris has increased manifold after the opening up of the tourism spots in the state, post-Covid-19, officials said.

The Government Botanical Garden (GBG), Ooty received a record number of tourists, with state Horticulture Department telling IANS that 20,975 tourists visited it in the last 10 days and 10,274 the Government Rose Garden.

According to tour operators, resort owners, and cab operators, the tourist inflow after the popular tourist destination of Tamil Nadu was opened since Covid-19 was a welcome sign and the revenue of the local people also has increased since the shutdown.

Talking to IANS, Selvaraj K.S., a resort owner at Wellington, Ooty, said: "This is a welcome sign and those who work in the tourism sector are having a jolly good time. It may be remembered that this was after two years of extreme pain and poverty that the market has opened up and the flow of tourists has increased in Ooty and Nilgiris."

He said that there are several foreign tourists also with the majority from the European countries. Selvaraj also said that local tourists from North Indian states and even from neighbouring Kerala are on the rise.

N. Sadik Ali, of Wildlife Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT) and running the Ooty Coffe House, told IANS: "The number of tourists has increased and this is a good sign for the hospitality sector and all other tourism-related sectors of Nilgiris and Ooty.

We have faced a lot of hardships during the Covid-19 period." The tourist flow will increase in the coming days after the CBSE and ICSE board exams, which are currently on, get concluded by the end of May.