Hyderabad: Tourism wing gears up to protect visitors

Hyderabad: No amount of assurances given by Minister of Health and other experts that there was no need to get panic about Covid-19 does not seem to have instilled required confidence among people. Perhaps due to lack of awareness in some areas even domestic helpers did not turn up.

On the other hand, the City of Pearls, which is one of the favourite destinations for domestic tourists in the country, has witnessed a drop in the number of visitors to the city. The number of visitors to tourist destinations like Charminar, Golconda, Birla Mandir and other places has witnessed a low tourist turnout.

Telangana State Tourism Corporation officials fear that the tourist count is likely to come down further in the coming days as the advisory of health officials to avoid mass gathering in wake of spread of coronavirus was taken seriously by the people. A senior official of the corporation said that "there is a panic kind of situation in the state and it affected people's plans to visit the city." Generally, the footfall in famous Lumbini Park is around 2,000 everyday and it has come down to 400. The average number of visitors in the major city monuments Charminar, Salar Jung Museum and other places is 4,700 per day but now it has been decreased to 3,000. At places like NTR Gardens, Chowmahalla Palace, Qutub Shahi tombs etc also, the visitors count has gone down.

In the backdrop of this situation, Minister for Tourism V Srinivas Goud reviewed the situation on virus impact on tourism. He instructed officials to see that masks and sanitisers were made available at all tourist places to ensure safety of tourists.

Sensing that decline in tourist footfall would affect the revenues, the corporation is gearing up to create an awareness on coronavirus. Posters will be displayed at all the tourist places educating the tourists about Dos and Don'ts when they are at tourist places like avoiding handshakes, wearing masks, using hand sanitisers etc.

Corporation MD B Manohar told The Hans India that they were focusing on maintaining hygiene at all tourist places by cleaning the contact points with alcohol-based cleanser for safety of the tourists. A similar exercise is also being taken up at major bus stations. Apart from this, the officials are also planning to supply masks to the visitors as a precautionary measure at all tourist spots.