String of holidays; Rush at tourist destinations

Mangaluru: In the backdrop of the Lok Sabha elections and a string of holidays, the number of tourists visiting tourist locations in and around Mangaluru doubled. In that too, the two prominent beaches in the city attracted over a lakh tourists within a week.

Tourists visiting areas around Mangaluru will not leave without visiting the beaches here and thus, Panambur and Tannirbhavi beaches were covered by a sea of people every day. On regular days, Panambur and Tannirbhavi beaches attract around 3,000 tourists while on the weekends, the number of tourists’ shoots up to 10,000.

During the last week, close to 50,000 people have visited the beaches. Overall, the two beaches attracted more than 1 lakh tourists’ in a week.

Rise in tourist numbers at Pilikula

In the backdrop of the consecutive holidays, the number of tourists visiting Pilikula Nisargadhama also rose. Normally, around 3,000 tourists visit Pilikula. But in the backdrop of the holidays, as many as 10,000 tourists visited Pilikula every day.

Every day visit to be facilitated

Earlier, tourists were not allowed within Pilikula Nisargadhama on Monday’s since that day was reserved for the maintenance of the entire area. But, in the backdrop of the summer vacation for the students, every day visit has been facilitated.

A combo offer is also being offered at Nisargadhama which will allow the tourist to visit the Nisargadhama, planetarium, Guttina Mane, zoo, lake and many other attractions at the ticket cost of only Rs 120.

Open on all days

“In the backdrop of the increase in the number of tourists visiting Pilikula Nisargadhama, it shall remain open on all 7 days of the week until the end of the month. Combo offer has also been provided to make it convenient for the tourists,” informed H Jayaprakash Bhandary, Director, Pilikula Biological Park

Pilikula to get new attractions

Even as the number of tourists visiting Pilikula is on the rise, the zoo is adding in new attractions. A bunch of birds will be coming to the zoo from a zoo in Mumbai. Besides, additional animals will be added to the zoo from various other zoos.

Rise in tourist numbers

“In the backdrop of back–to-back holidays, the number of tourists has also increased. People from outside the district and the locals visit the beach in the afternoons and evenings respectively. The people coming to enjoy water sports here have increased,” said Yathish Baikampady, CEO, Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project (PBTDP)

Rush at religious places too

Since there are many religious places in the city, tourists provide more importance to visiting them. In that too, thousands of tourists visit St Aloysius Chapel, Gokarnatheshwara temple, Ullal Dargha and many other religious places daily.