While we are battling the Pandemic, the tourism and hospitality industries worldwide are practically reeling under the impact. The Hospitality Industry is staring at a loss of Rs 90,000 crores in the first three quarters of 2020. And if you consider the tourism industry as a whole, the total revenue loss is estimated to be a whopping Rs 1.25 trillion in calendar 2020.
Confinement is also taking a toll on mental health and it is important to stay positive in this climate. The Pandemic, like all Pandemics in the past, will pass. It is important to keep taking all precautions and to keep looking forward. For travel enthusiasts, one way could be to keep track of some new initiatives that would mean an exciting post-pandemic travel calendar. Following are some newly developed tourist places in India that you can visit post the Covid19 crisis:
Corbett's got a brand new safari zone:
Even though the only time I have seen a tiger in the wild has been in Ranthambore National Park, Corbett is actually my favorite. I have been here thrice and once I stayed at Gairal, one of the government rest houses inside the park. I absolutely love the forest. And I am really excited that a new tourism zone has announced in this national park in October this year. This new zone will be known as the Garjiya Tourism Zone. Currently Corbett has Bijrani, Dhikala, Dhela Durga Devi, Jhirna, Pakhro and Sonanadhi zones. This new zone has been developed by combining the forest areas of Bijrani range, Ringora Chaur, Aamdanda beat, Garjiya beat, Bijrani range and Sarpduli range.
Rohtang Tunnel makes Lahaul more easily accessible:
It was quite visionary of Jawaharlal Nehru to discuss a Ropeway to Rohtang Pass in 1960 and same goes for Atal Bihari Vajpayee who declared that the Rohtang Tunnel would be constructed. The declaration came in June 2000 and now in October 2020, the tunnel has finally been inaugurated by Narender Modi. It took 20 years. But like any other big budget Government infrastructure process, it has been through its bureaucratic roadblocks (no pun intended) and also the quintessential difficulties in drilling through a mountain. Now that it has been constructed, it is the longest tunnel above the height of 10,000ft in the world and the longest Highway tunnel in the world.
The tunnel connects Manali to Keylong, on the way to Leh. The original route was 116 kilometers and took about 5 hours to navigate. It went through Gramphu, the village from you can choose whether you want to go to Leh or Spiti. The new route through the tunnel brings down the distance to 78.72 kilometers (tunnel itself being just 9.02 kms long) and can be travelled in a little over 2 hours. The travel time has been cut down by almost 3 hours.
In Pedalabudu Village near the Araku Valley in Vizag, an eco-tourism village has been set up. The Tribals of the village, with the help of the Government, have set up this village across 3 acres of land. The village was inaugurated in November and is the ideal place to relax away from the city, enjoy local food, dress up in tribal clothes and dance to Dhimsa beats. The village is also set up amid nature, so it is the ideal place for you to head to, once the pandemic is over.
Sarnath Light and Sound Show
This project took an unbelievable 18 years to complete, but was recently inaugurated. This Light and Sound show was screened on the Mauryan Era Dhamekha Stupa of Sarnath for the first time in November 2020. The narration is in the voice of none-other-than Amitabh Bachchan and not only talks about the life of Buddha, but also about the art and culture of the city. Another thing to look forward to once the pandemic is over.
Bhagirathi Van to be hub of spiritual tourism
Bhagirathi Van is a manmade forest along the river Ganga that spans across 316 hectares of land and about 3.5 Lakh trees of more than 250 species have been planted here. This land was reclaimed from encroachment and the people who were displaced were engaged in developing the land. Unbelievably all this apparently happened in a peaceful manner. I hope the trees all grow up and thrive. And hopefully the Van will flourish.
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