Travel, Tourism & Hospitality
India’s lighthouse tourism grows four-fold, says minister
Tourist footfalls at lighthouses along India’s sprawling 7,517-km coastline have risen by 400% from 400,000 tourists to 1.6 million annually in 10 years, said the country's waterways minister. A record 900,000 tourists visited India’s lighthouses in H1.
Tourist footfalls at lighthouses along India’s sprawling 7,517-km coastline have risen by 400% from 400,000 tourists to 1.6 million annually in 10 years, reported Wam citing a senior minister.
Lighthouse tourism is an innovative new effort by India to attract visitors to its 203 lighthouses countrywide, many of which have historical value and antecedents, remarked Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, while speaking at the second Indian Lighthouse Festival which comcluded today (October 20).
During the first half of the current fiscal year, a record 900,000 tourists have visited India’s lighthouses, he stated.
Sonowal announced the opening of a new lighthouse in Gujarat state and also unveiled plans to build two new ones in Odisha.
He also announced plans to create a national association of communities which live in the vicinity of lighthouses and empower them to celebrate these centuries-old monuments as national icons and cultural heritage.
"For a long time, lighthouses, the guardians of our shores have remained unnoticed, even while they guided vessels and seafarers through the most challenging nights," said the minister.
"The Lighthouse Festival is our effort to shift this perception and enlighten people about the contribution these iconic structures have made to India’s maritime legacy," he added.