State sees drop in arrival of domestic, foreign tourists
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 25 2024: With the state descending into chaos following outbreak of the conflict on May 3 last year leaving many dead and thousands displaced, the tourism sector of the state is currently in a low ebb.

Compared to the figures recorded in 2019-2020, the number of domestic and international tourist arrivals in the state has dropped significantly by 79.04 percent.

According to a report, total of 1,64,468 domestic and 10,936 foreign tourists arrived in the state in 2019-20.In 2020-21, which was during the pandemic, a total of 33,351 tourists visited the state, of which 234 were foreign nationals.

In 2021-22, around 54,309 domestic and 928 foreign tourists arrived, compared to year 2022-23 which recorded healthy number of arrivals with 1,55,937 domestic and 5,483 foreign tourists, totalling around 1,61,420 .

The numbers, however, took a dive with 34,468 domestic and 2,300 tourists, arriving in the state, as per data based on reports culled every financial year from April.

Accordingly, the arrival of tourists in the state dropped to 79.04 per cent in 2024-24 compared to 2019-20 .

The dip in the number of tourists in the state has been attributed to the prevailing conflict.

As tourism activities remain paralysed due to the unrest situation, there are concerns that the effects on the tourism sector could spill over to the economy of the state.

In addition, many events such as the Sangai International Festival and other festivals remain suspended since last year.

It may be also mentioned here that the US Embassy had already issued an advisory to its American citizens, informing that Manipur is presently unsafe for travelling.

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