Tourists traffic marginally up in Nilgiris district

Ooty: Contrary to the belief, especially among the tourism stake holders and trading community here, that heavy rains and slowing economy may play spoilsport with the autumn tourist season here,  the hills recorded a three per cent more influx of tourists this autumn, between the first week of September and the first week of November. While the tourist influx to the famed Government Botanical Garden (GBG) is always ascribed to be the flow of tourists to the hills here, this autumn season, popularly known as second-season of Ooty, the GBG recorded an inflow of 4,48,824 tourists.

During the corresponding period in 2018 autumn season, the tourist influx to GBG was 4,37,413.

This amply vindicated that the autumn tourism inflow rose by nearly 3 percent when compared to 2018.

Though the tourist influx to the hills crossed one million mark for the first time in annals this summer season here, the unprecedented heavy rains in August that played havoc with the inter-state road in Nilgiris-Kerala border, minor landslips in some places and the torrential rains that continued from September as well as in October were perceived to be a big threat to tourist inflow.

This apart, the slowing down of economy had become a worrisome factor for the tourism sector here, sources said. But all this has been belied.