Uttarakhand govt expects tourism to recover to pre-COVID-19 level next year onwards

With the gradual easing of restrictions on movement and the national vaccination drive in full swing across the country, the Uttarakhand government expects tourist footfalls to gather momentum and reach the pre-COVID-19 levels 2022 onwards.

''Even with the restrictions on the number of visitors in certain destinations due to the pandemic, we are witnessing full bookings.

''Therefore, looking at the current demand we are expecting the tourist footfalls to gather momentum after the vaccination drive and the sector is likely to reach pre-Covid levels 2022 onwards,'' Uttarakhand Tourism secretary and Uttarakhand Tourism and Development Board (UTDB) CEO Dilip Jawalkar told PTI.

However, the state is taking precautionary measures and seeing the further possibility of a third wave this year, he noted.

In 2019, the state had hosted 1.9 crore visitors, of which 34 lakh were pilgrims, Jawalkar stated.

''We receive a good amount of religious and spiritual travellers visiting from across the country as well as overseas. Therefore, our travel and tourism sector doesn't take much time to recover.

''We saw this happening after the devastation in 2013. After the devastation, we recovered fast as the demand rebounded. But, we took some time to restore the supply that matched the demand,'' he said.

Pilgrimage and spirituality are still top on the list but the adventure enthusiasts and solitude seekers have also started to explore the state for an adrenaline rush, Jawalkar noted.

''There is also a good scope for adventure tourism in Uttarakhand and we want our state to be a service provider. We want to boost adventure sports.

''We are witnessing a good footfall from Mumbai every year. Budding travellers and trek enthusiasts visit Uttarakhand to seek adventure and we want to promote our unexplored destinations for this purpose,'' he said.

The state, he said, is also looking at promoting Uttarkhand film tourism as a niche segment. He added that the state offers the best film policies for the producers and directors, including making films tax free that have more than 50 per cent or more outdoor shooting in the state, 50 per cent discount provided on rest houses for units during the time of shooting among others.

''We are looking at developing new locations in Uttarakhand for explorers and the film fraternity. Uttarakhand has immense potential for film shooting and we are always open for producers and directors to come and visit, especially the unexplored destination of the state. The state has also introduced single-window permission for production houses,'' he added.

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