November 03, 2022 – The number of domestic tourists may have broken all the records this year, but the number of foreign tourists decreased. According to the data provided by police, there has been a dip of around 80 percent of foreign tourists visiting Uttarakhand on tourist visas compared to 2019. Any foreigner who comes to Uttarakhand has to inform the local intelligence unit (LIU) in every district once they reach Uttarakhand.
Foreign tourists also have to tell the type of visa and the purpose of their visit. Based on this, the number of foreign tourists is calculated. As per information provided by police, till October 31 this year, about 34 thousand foreign tourists have reached Uttarakhand on a tourist visa. Whereas in 2019, this number was one lakh 56 thousand.
At the same time, in 2019, only about 34 lakh tourists came to Chardham and Hemkund Sahib. After this, due to the pendamic, the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists stopped. A few tourists came in 2021, but after everything was completely normal in 2022, the state had the most extensive record of domestic tourists.
In Chardham and Hemkund Sahib alone, more than 45 lakh 60 thousand tourists came till October 31 this year. In comparison to 2019, there was a record increase of about 25 percent in the number of domestic tourists visiting the Dham. At the same time, the number of foreign tourists has declined by almost 80 percent. The reason behind this is to be believed because of recent corona cases in many countries and the fear of natural disasters in the state.
This time the number of tourists and devotees in Chardham Yatra, Hemkund Sahib Yatra has broken all the records so far, which is a big achievement for the tourism of the state. The number of foreign tourists remained low. Corona can be a big reason behind this somewhere.
Ashok Kumar, DGP