Footfall at Mysuru’s major tourist sites has dropped further amidst the threat of Omicron and the restrictions imposed on containing the spread of the new variant.
Until the outbreak of Omicron, the number of visitors to the zoo and other major places of tourist importance had picked up and the stakeholders were ecstatic over the recovery after the tourism business took a severe beating from the second wave.
After the government imposed tighter curbs on the entry of visitors from States such as Kerala, with strict surveillance on the borders, the arrivals have now dropped substantially, thereby affecting tourist revenue. Both the palace and the zoo are run on the revenue generated from their gate collections.
Mysuru comparatively attracts more tourists from Kerala and Tamil Nadu than other States.
Mysuru Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya said “We haven’t reached half of the pre-COVID-19 number of visitors with the pandemic continuing to cause disturbance. Whatever numbers we had gained post-pandemic are also seeing a drop over the fresh fears. The revenue which the Board used to earn from the gate collections has reduced by half.”
Before the pandemic, the palace used to attract 10,000 to 12,000 visitors during weekends and 6,000 to 7,000 tourists during the weekdays. Its annual revenue was around ₹16 crore. When COVID struck, the footfall fell like never before and the board had a challenging time since it had to look after the maintenance of the iconic structure and pay staff salaries from the revenue earned from the gate collections.
SKAL International Mysuru chapter president B.S. Prashanth said the fear of Omicron has forced many tourists to cancel their travel plans. It will take some time for the situation to become normal.
The footfall from Kerala is almost nil. With curbs ahead of the New Year, people are opting for secluded locations such as Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru for spending the year-end with their families. There have been more enquiries and bookings for homestays in Kodagu and resorts in Goa, he said.
“Like last year, this year too our hopes have been dashed. Usually, the bookings used to pick up from December 15 onwards but the new variant has triggered cancellation of bookings with tourists putting off their visits during the Christmas holidays,” he said.
The stakeholders had claimed that the revival, when compared to the first wave, had appeared quicker and one of the key reasons attributed to this was vaccination. But with the vaccinated getting infected from the new variant, travelers have become wary.
