Mysore/Mysuru: The tourism sector in city, which had seen a sharp fall following outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, is slowly picking up in city and surrounding places.

With the number of Coronavirus positive cases declining day-byday and businesses also seeing growth slowly, tourists too have begun visiting their favourite destinations with Mysuru being one of them. The footfall at Mysore Palace, Mysuru Zoo, Karanji Lake, Chamundi Hill and surrounding tourist spots such as Srirangapatna, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, KRS Dam, Nanjangud among other tourist spots is increasing day-by-day with huge rush being witnessed during weekends.

Prior to the outbreak of the deadly pandemic, Mysore Palace used to witness a footfall of more than 10,000 tourists daily and now about 3,500 tourists are visiting it which increases during weekends and continuous holidays. On Sunday (yesterday), a total of 9,098 tourists including a foreigner and 624 children, visited the Palace, which fetched a revenue of Rs. 6,11,860 through entry tickets, according to Mysore Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya.

Mysuru Zoo, which was reeling under severe financial crunch for its maintenance, is also slowly recovering. Yesterday, 10,931 tourists including 1,393 children visited the Zoo and a total of 1,672 visitors including 199 children visited Karanji Lake.

Chamundi Hill too witnessed more tourists than the usual days. With Tuber Mela and Hunar Haat also organised in city, a large number of tourists and localites thronged the two places. The city roads also saw more vehicular traffic than usual.

The increase in footfall to tourist spots in and around city seems to be a boon to hotel industry, roadside vendors, tours and travels and other businesses, which had suffered the most due to the pandemic.