Hyderabad Tourism: From Hussainsagar lake to Golconda Fort; how tourism is reviving in city of Nizams

Char Minar, Ramoji Film City, Golconda Fort, Shri Jagannath Temple, Birla Mandir, Hussain Sagar Lake, Qutub Shahi Tombs, Birla Science Museum, Snow World, Paigah Tombs, and many more. Hyderabad is a great blend of regal history and bold modernity and a delightful place to visit after a slump of a couple of years, tourism in the city is back to normal.

The rush of people visiting Tank Bund Road, NTR Marg, and PVNR Marg leading the city’s iconic Hussainsagar lake in Hyderabad on a Sunday is similar to the pre-Covid times. The hustle and bustle at Lumbini Park, NTR Gardens, NTR memorial, and other nearby business establishments and the presence of a large number of vendors and hawkers in the adjoining area is also a sign of the return of normalcy in the city of the Nizams.

According to Abdul, a street vendor near Imax circle people has overcome the fear and the virus. He said that life will continue as usual. The Telangana Tourism Development Corporation also believes that the situation will remain normal.

The corporation’s revenue during the first three months of 2022 has been higher than the same period last year. According to a senior official, the highest revenue collection from the water fleet operations at the Hussainsagar lake was around Rs 5 lakh a day before the outbreak of the pandemic. A present, on some days, the single-day revenue collected from the fleet is around Rs 9 lakh.

According to B.Manohar, the managing director of the TSTDC, the positive response to the tourism industry shows that the sector is on the road to recovery. During the month of October, the corporation’s water fleet operators generated over Rs 1.15 Cr by just proving boating facilities to the tourists at the lake.

The recent observations of the tourism department found that the number of foreign visitors has decreased but the number of domestic and local tourists is also increasing. This is a clear indication that the sector is on the road to recovery. According to the data collected by the tourism department, the number of foreign tourists visiting the state during the pandemic was almost a hundred percent lower than the number of people who visited the state before the outbreak.

Only 5,917 foreign tourists visited Telangana in 2021, but around 3.2 lakh foreigners visited the state before the pandemic in 2019. In 2022, 2,905 foreigners visited the state in the first three months.

The major attractions of the state, such as Golconda Fort and Charminar, saw a significant decline in the number of foreign visitors in 2021. In 2021, the foreign visitor count at the fort decreased to 1,317 from 33,853 in 2019. Similarly, the arts and crafts village of Shilparamam saw a drop in its foreign visitor count to 549 from 36,936 in 2019. The Chowmahalla palace and Salarjung Museum also saw a decrease in their foreign visitor numbers.

In 2021, the domestic tourist arrivals in the state decreased to 3.2 million from 8.3 million in 2019. However, in the first three months of 2022, it has gone up to 2.2 million.