Tourist Footfall, Revenue Collection for Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Other Monuments Hugely Hit By Pandemic

Ticket sales at monuments, including Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Ajanta and Ellora Caves fell hugely from Rs 336 crore in 2019-20 to a little over Rs 40 crore in the year 2020-21 that saw lockdown restrictions and travel bans due to the Covid-19 pandemic, data from the Ministry of Culture showed.

In 2019-20, there were around 5 crore visitors at the centrally protected ticketed monuments while the footfall went down to 1.19 crore in 2020-21 that was marred by the Covid-19 pandemic. As compared to 2018-19, the number of tourists dropped by about 78% and revenue collection fell by over 87% in 2020-21, according to the ministry’s data analysed by CNN-News18.

(Tourist Flow at Centrally Protected Ticketed Monuments in India)

Monuments shut for over two months in 2021 causing loss of Rs 35 crore

As the country was fighting the second wave of Covid-19 in April-May, the monuments were closed for 61 days from April 16 to June 15 in which the government incurred a loss of Rs 35.40 crore, according to the ministry’s statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The ministry said the calculation was based on revenue lost due to lack of sales of tickets.

(Revenue Collected from Centrally Protected Ticketed Monuments)

For Category ‘A’ monuments such as Ajanta and Ellora Caves, the Indian citizens, visitors from SAARC and BIMSTEC countries and overseas citizens of India pay up to Rs 40 each. However, for Red Fort in Delhi, a Category ‘A’ monument that is also a UNESCO World Heritage, the entry fee is Rs 50 per head.

While everyone else visiting the Category ‘A’ monuments and are not from the listed countries will have to shell out Rs 600. Also, for entry to the main Mausoleum of Taj Mahal, Rs 200 per head for all categories of visitors is required in addition to the existing entry fee.

Similarly, for Category ‘B’ monuments such as Gwalior Fort, Indians and visitors from SAARC and BIMSTEC countries and overseas citizens of India pay Rs 25 and other foreign tourists fork out Rs 300.

India has 3,693 centrally protected monuments; most in UP

Across India, there are 3,693 centrally protected monuments, with most being in Uttar Pradesh. The state has 743 centrally protected monuments followed by Karnataka (506) and Tamil Nadu (412). Nagaland (four), Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (three each), and Manipur and Mizoram (one each) are at the other end of the spectrum.

(State-wise Centrally Protected Monuments)

Between 2014 and 2019, 17 monuments were added to the list of centrally protected monuments, including the Old High Court Building in Maharashtra’s Nagpur that was added in 2018.

Huge fall in foreign tourists’ arrival in India in 2021

Nearly four lakh tourists arrived in India up to May 2021 as compared to 24.72 lakh for the same period in 2020. The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs), which dropped drastically in March-April 2020 amid the global Covid outbreak, started increasing gradually in the later part of 2020. In November 2020, 70,977 FTAs and in December, 90,544 FTAs were recorded in India.

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