Kashi, Agra attract tourists again
Foreigners are gradually arriving to keep tryst with Kashi ghats, while the Taj city has become the favourite place for week-end getaways
VARANASI/AGRA : In the post pandemic period, outdoor activities are once again witnessing surging interest levels and tourism seems set to rebuild itself.
Varanasi and Agra, the two prime tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh, are back under the spotlight. While Agra has become a favourite destination for week-end getaways, Kashi ghats are once again attracting foreign tourists.
About 150 foreign tourists visited Varanasi in the last two months (September and October), according to a senior officer, department of tourism.
Most of the foreign tourists, who visited Varanasi during this period, were nationals of USA, England, Israel, Poland, Mozambique, Japan, Russia, France, Germany and Romania, the officer said.
“However, many of the tourists are travelling to Varanasi from cities like Rishikesh, Bangalore and Delhi where they were staying temporarily. They now prefer shorter journey as they got stuck in many cities when the Covid-19 had broken out over 17 months ago,” said the officer.
According to the tourism department, many tourists also reached Varanasi via Nepal. Most of them spent around four to seven days and went back. At present, around 30 tourists are in Varanasi and they can be seen sitting on ghats.
On Monday, some foreigners were seen at Tulsi Ghat. They were enjoying traditional ‘Naag Nathaiya Leela’ being performed in river Ganga. It is held every year a few days after Deepawali. Naag Nathiaya depicts Lord Krishna’s victory over serpent Kalia. A group of local artists of Kashi perform it in the middle of river Ganga.
Regional tourism officer Keertiman Srivastava said, “Post Covid-19, around 100 tourists have visited Kashi. Gradually, the foreign tourists have started coming to Varanasi but their number is very small. I hope more tourists will visit the city in near future.”
He said that before March 2020 (when Covid-19 outbreak occurred), on an average, over 35,000 foreigners used to visit Varanasi every month during the peak season which begins in September and ends in the first week of March.
Taj city most preferred week-end getaway place Though there are no foreign tourists visiting Agra since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, the city of Taj gets flooded with visitors from nearby areas seeking weekend getaways. Tourism trade pundits attribute 70% of the inflow from National Capital Region in and around Delhi. ‘Unusual’ jams on Yamuna Expressway on weekends are ample illustration that Agra is definitely one of the most preferred weekend trip place after the second Covid wave subsided.
The extended Diwali weekend saw the city crowded with holiday-makers and on Sunday evening, the last day of holidays for Diwali, there was a kilometre -long queue at the toll plaza of Yamuna Expressway with a large number of vehicles heading towards Delhi from Agra. Authorities at ISBT, Agra too confirmed that the bus services for Delhi got affected because of jam on the Expressway on Sunday.
Availability of best connectivity (the 165-km Yamuna Expressway connecting Agra with NOIDA) and affordable accommodation also attract visitors from Delhi, Gurgaon, NOIDA, Ghaziabad and Faridabad etc.
“Visitors from these cities in NCR look for a couple of days’ getaway in their own cars for a distance less than 200 kilometres and affordable rooms at quality hotels for family. Agra serves them all in this post second Covid wave scenario as hotels have shifted their focus from foreign tourists (altogether missing) to otherwise ‘travel starved’ domestic crowd coming in abundance on week-ends to break the monotony,” said Sandeep Arora, president of Agra
Tourism Development Foundation.
“Easing of Covid curbs has made people think of travelling a reasonable distance but in their own vehicle. There were budget category visitors to Agra in preCovid days too but with presence of foreign tourists in abundance, the star category hotels focused on guests with high paying capacity. The budget category visitor preferred a day’s visit only and returned the same day after visiting Taj and a few other monuments,” said Sunil Gupta, regional chairman (North), Indian Association of Tour Operators.
“The absence of foreign tourists has led to star category hotels looking for domestic visitors and they have slashed prices, making them affordable for average domestic visitor looking for a couple of days away from home. The families from NCR region include religious tourism too in their travel and while staying in Agra visit the twin cities of Mathura and Vrindavan,” said Sandeep Arora.
Travel bureau owner Sunil Gupta echoed similar sentiments, saying that 70 % of visitors reaching Agra on week-ends and during holidays were those from the National Capital Region.
‘One cannot take away the credit from Taj Mahal for its beauty and charm which makes the monument worth visiting on repeat occasions. Visitors on week-end and holiday get-away have to face chaos because of crowd at the gates of Taj Mahal and something should be done about it,” he said.
“Interestingly, Agra is also linked with state capital Lucknow by an expressway but it seems that the week-end visitor prefers to travel less than 200 km in a day by his own vehicle which is easy using the 165 km-long Yamuna Expressway than the 305 km- long Agra-Lucknow Expressway,” he said.
During the pre-Covid phase till February 2020, the Taj Mahal used to get 20,000 tourists per day with the average inflow falling to 10,000 in a day during summers and rising to 25,000 to 30,000 visitors per day in winters, revealed an official of the Archaeological Survey of India at Taj Mahal, preferring not to be named. Taj Mahal used to have a footfall of about 60 lakh visitors a year in pre-pandemic days.
With the outbreak of Covid, Taj Mahal gates were closed on March 17, 2020 and opened on September 21, 2020 with capping on the number of visitors. Only 5,000 tourists were allowed in a day However, as the situation eased, 10,000 and then 15000 tourists were allowed by December 2020.