Tourist inflow to Amritsar dipped after Ajnala incident, now it's back to normal

GS Paul

Amritsar, April 7

Even as a report tabled in the Rajya Sabha recently claimed that Punjab has witnessed 45 per cent drop in tourist inflow in 2022 when compared to 2019, Amritsar has seen a growth in domestic and international travellers during the same period.

Hotels fully booked

I cannot comment on Punjab’s tourism graph. But there is no adverse effect on tourist footfall in Amritsar. At present, hotel accommodation in the city is fully booked. — Gursharan Singh, District Tourism officer

If officials of the hotel and tourism industry are to be believed, from late February till mid-March the tourist footfall in Amritsar saw a temporary decline apparently due to the Ajnala incident, followed by crackdown on pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh and his supporters. Now, the tourist inflow is back to normal.

An analysis of data provided by the Airports Authority of India reveals that total of 22.4 lakh passengers arrived at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in 2022. It shows a growth of 69.39 per cent as compared to the previous year (2021) when the total passenger footfall was 13.2 lakh. Likewise, the data stated that the count of tourists, who arrived in Amritsar, was 2,37,708 and 2,38,429 in February and January, 2023, respectively.

FlyAmritsar Initiative global convener Sameep Singh Gumtala said the international aircraft movement was up by 68.5 per cent with a total of 6,50,862 passengers from abroad landing in the holy city in 2022 as compared to 3,07,842 in 2021. Similarly, the domestic aircraft movement was also up by 37.1 per cent. The domestic air traffic had also recorded strong growth of 56.2 per cent that means 15.88 lakh passengers arriving in the holy city.

Amritsar Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHARA) president APS Chatha said, “It appears that tourists were discouraged on hearing about vitiating of peace in the state due to the Ajnala incident on February 24 and police action against pro-Khalistan supporters during mid-March. Certainly, there was 25 per cent decline during that temporary phase. Now, the situation is back to normal. On weekends, there is almost cent per cent occupancy of hotels in Amritsar,” he said.

District Tourism Officer Gursharan Singh said, “There is no adverse effect on tourist footfall in Amritsar. At present, the whole city’s accommodation is fully booked.”

SGPC spokesperson Harbhajan Singh Vakta said devotees’ footfall at the Golden Temple remained over one lakh every day.