Domestic tourism is booming in Gujarat this Diwali

Ahmedabad, 9 November 2013

Six person of Ahmedabad based higher middle class family were killed on Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway this week. They were all going to spend vacation at Saputara – a hill station in tribal dominated Dang district of south Gujarat by road.

In earlier years you would hear people from Ahmedabad going to Mount Abu or Udaipur-Shrinathji by road to spend vacation, but this time Saputara is also a choice.

The rush at Saputara is so much that accommodation are not available in this Diwali vacation season. Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited(TCGL) estimates arrival of 40000 people at this hill station. This is undoubtedly the biggest tourist arrival figure ever in Saputara. The accommodations are all booked till 15 November.

From Saputara, let’s jump to Gir – the last abode of the Asiatic Lion. The Diwali vacation has so far seen a record 40% jump in the number of tourists here. On Thursday this week, 10,815 tourists came on a single day and broke all earlier records. Daily limit of 90 permits has been relaxed and 150 permits are issued nowadays. The Forest department hired special 25-seater buses to manage the heavy rush. On Diwali day 2,441 persons visited the forest. On Gujarati new year day, 2,880 visited the sanctuary while on Bhai Bij 6,891 tourists visited the sanctuary. Compared to last year, 2019 more visitors visited the sanctuary on these three days.

Gir is part of the circuit that also offers two more attractions – Somnath mandir and Diu island. Needless to say, at Somnath and Diu both places there’s tremendous rush of tourists during Diwali period.

In Kutch district, coastal town Mandvi witnessed traffic jam on roads leading to the beach. Bus station road, Bhid bazar road were literally converted into markets. Hotels faced shortage of milk due to extra rush of tourists.

What is interesting to note is arrivals of tourists even at remote places like Lakhpat. As per an estimate by local newspaper Kutchmitra, daily 15-20,000 visitors visited Mata no madh, Narayan Sarovar, Koteshwar, Lakhpat during Diwali days.

Other tourist places like Ambaji, Pavagadh, Nal sarovar etc have remained busy as well during Diwali days. Tourist places in cities too have witnessed heavy rush of visitors. There were long queues for mini train ride in Vadodara’s Kamati bag and Ahmedabad’s Kankaria lake front.