Tourism set to boom with inauguration of Kushinagar Int’l Airport by PM today

Kushinagar, Oct 19 (UNI) The much-awaited Kushinagar International Airport, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, will help revive and boost tourism from South Asian countries, according to tourism and hospitality experts.

The experts believe that tourist inflow from countries like China, Malaysia, Japan Singapore and Thailand will soon pick up with the opening of the airport as Covid cases continue to be at its lowest ebb for weeks together in northern India in general, and Uttar Pradesh in particular.

It is worth mentioning here that according to the data of the Bureau of Immigration, Kushinagar and Shravasti had been witnessing consistent increase in the number of tourists since 2017, until the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic struck the world. Kushinagar received 8.98 lakh, 9.3 lakh, 9.7 lakh and 10.96 lakh tourists in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively, which dropped to 3.23 lakh tourists in 2020 due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Similarly, Shravasti received 2.2 lakh, 2.58 lakh, 11.32 lakh and 12.71 lakh in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively, which dipped to mere 0.17 lakh in 2020.

The data further reveals that India received 3,39,442 tourists from China, 3,34,579 from Malaysia, 2,38,903 from Japan and 1,90,089 tourists from Singapore, which dropped to 39,586, 69,897, 48,191 and 33,747 in 2020 respectively due to the pandemic.

However, with UP becoming almost free of the pandemic and the Kushinagar International Airport fully operational, the tourism scene is likely to improve significantly in the coming months, officials here on Tuesday claimed.

Located strategically near Buddhist sites in both UP and Bihar, the Kushinagar International Airport will serve as a major conduit in the Buddhist circuit, providing direct air connectivity with South Asian countries and facilitating seamless travel to the entire Buddhist circuit in India.

With the opening of this airport, travellers from Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam will be able to visit easily Sarnath, Shravasti, Bodh Gaya, Lumbini, Vaishali, Rajgir and Sankisa in considerably lesser time. Besides, it will serve as a major centre for the people of eastern UP to travel to domestic and foreign destinations.

The airport will boost tourism in Purvanchal region, while paving way for products of the region to get global recognition. The inflow of international tourists as well as outbound tourism are expected to increase by 15 to 20 percent in the coming years due to the opening of the airport. The airport will also create massive job opportunities in tourism and hospitality sectors.

Built at the cost of Rs 260 crore, the Kushinagar International Airport is spread over an area of 590 acres and boasts of world-class facilities. It also has the state’s largest runway with a length of 3200 metres and width of 45 metres.

The opening ceremony will be attended by a large Sri Lankan delegation. The delegation will also include Buddhist monks and pilgrims.