‘Tiger Capital of India’ in recent years has become a wildlife tourism centre because of its proximity to several famous tiger reserves. Among all reserves of Central India, Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) gained the top position and became the favorite destination for tourists due to its rich flora and fauna. PTR has achieved another milestone as the jungle attracted more than 3.46 lakh tourists both domestic and international post pandemic. And the way things stand, this number is likely to grow with each passing year as tourists are preferring PTR as a preferred wildlife tourism destination just like Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur. As per the data provided by PTR Management, total 5.18 lakh tourists visited Pench Tiger Reserve between 2016 and 2024 in which 3,46,034 (nearly half) tourists visited the tiger reserve post Covid-19 pandemic (2021-2024).

 

The data was collected on the basis of total jungle safari bookings that took place during October to June months in PTR in the last nine years. From 2016 to 2020, only 1,72,296 tourists visited PTR, which doubled after the pandemic. “Attractive activities for tourists, spreading awareness about wildlife conservation, promoting involvement of villagers in eco-tourism activities, adoption of technology and public participation are some steps that we have adopted to increase the footfall of tourists in the forest,” Dr Prabhunath Shukla, Field Director, PTR told ‘The Hitavada’. To attract tourists, PTR started many activities like night safari, monsoon safari, feed the elephant, adventure sport etc. which helped the management to increase the number of visitors in recent times. PTR is spread over 741 sq km on the Maharashtra side and it has eight tourist gates -- Surewani, Khubala, Narhar, Sillari, Chorbahuli, Khursapar, Paoni UC and Maudi.

 

Though all the eight gates are popular among tourists, majority of them prefer to get their safari bookings from Khursapar side. The management provides jungle safari to tourists in core, buffer and territorial forest areas. Tourists can stay in accommodation facilities available near the few major gates which were developed by the management for eco-tourism. PTR management strictly follows the cleanliness and no garbage inside the forest and their premises. However, the authority has also taken care of proper wildlife management inside the forest. Solar pumps for waterholes, breeding centres for vultures and other lesser known mammals along with elephant camp etc. are some examples.

 

“We are adopting new projects to attract more tourists in PTR and some have already started functioning. We have started adventure sports activities for tourists at a couple of gates where the footfall is high. We are allowing tourists to feed two elephants in an elephant camp situated deep inside the forest,” said Dr Shukla. “PTR is situated around Pench river which is a best spot for aquatic life. Therefore, we have started a boat safari in some buffer areas which are situated near the river,” said the senior officer. “The hospitality industry got affected drastically during Covid-19 period. We also suffered a lot during that period. However, post pandemic the situation changed immediately in this sector as tourists started visiting Pench,” said Khurram Khan, a Business Manager of a Resort in PTR. “We received good number of bookings after the pandemic which is still going on in this peak season,” claimed Khan.