PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Jyotirmath
This year, twice as many tourists visited the Valley of Flowers, a World Heritage Site, compared to last year, Chamoli district administration officials informed. From June 1 to July 10, 10,185 tourists visited the Valley of Flowers. These include 10,141 Indians and 44 foreign tourists.
The administration has received revenue of Rs 18.50 lakh. Last year, until July 10, only 5,172 tourists visited the valley and about 10.5 lakh came as revenue. In just one year, the number of tourists and revenue have increased significantly, the officials said and added that the number of foreign tourists has declined though.
Speaking of the matter, a senior officer who looks after the Valley of Flowers Chetan Kandpal said that the huge increase in the number of Indian tourists has compensated the decline in the foreign tourist footfalls. “The number of visitors kept rising and the trend is positive in terms of revenue generation,” he added.
