The City Beautiful has been witnessing an increase in foreign tourist arrivals since 2016 when the Capitol Complex got the UNESCO World Heritage status while the number of domestic tourists has remained more or less similar.
As per the data with the UT Tourism Department, 40280 foreign tourists have visited Chandigarh till November 2019 while the number of such tourists in 2018 was 39681.
“The number of foreign tourists visiting the city last year is likely to cross 44000. As per the data till November 2019, 40280 have visited various tourist spots in Chandigarh,” said an official of UT Tourism Department.
As per the past trends, more than 4000 foreign tourists visit the city every December.
In previous years, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was 32762 in 2017 and 31549 in 2016 in the city. Earlier, it was in 2013 that a maximum number of around 40000 foreign tourists had visited Chandigarh.
Apart from UNESCO World Heritage site-Capitol Complex, worldwide known-Rock Garden- and tourists spots like Rose Garden and Sukhna Lake, are also frequented by foreign tourists.
On the other hand, the number of domestic tourists has witnessed only a marginal increase over the years in the city. The statistics with the UT Tourism Department shows that 1437253 (14.3 lakh) domestic tourists were recorded till November 2019 while the number was 1538796 (15.3 lakh) in 2018.
“The data of December is yet to be compiled but the total number is likely to cross 15.3 lakh as more than 1 lakh domestic tourists visit the city in December every year,” the UT official said.
The number of domestic tourist arrivals stood at1425781 (14.2 lakh) in 2017.
Nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Shivalik hills, Chandigarh is yet to emerge as a preferred destination for domestic as well as foreign tourists in the region. Chandigarh is considered as the gateway to the famous locations to Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, owing to which, the tourist inflow has witnessed a rise in the recent past.
However, experts point that Chandigarh’s potential for tourism is much larger and the UT Administration needs to promote it aggressively as a niche destination for modern architecture and not only as the city of gardens or fairs and festivals.As per the UT’s data, more than 15500 tourists visited the Capitol Complex in 2019 while the number stood at 12836 in 2018.
Notably, the Capitol Complex in Sector 1 here designed by famed Swiss-born French Architect Le Corbusier was given the status of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) world heritage site in 2016.
