Asif Iqbal
Srinagar, Apr 21 (GNS): Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden, located on the foothills of Zabarwan mountain range, turned out to be a major tourist attraction in Kashmir this year with over 3.7 lac visitors from far and wide thronging the garden to enjoy the diverse hues of nature at display.
The Tulip garden spanning over an area of 30 hectares (74 acres) has on a year-to-year basis pulled record number of visitors from all across be it the local, the national or the foreigners.
The figures, available with GNS, suggest that a total of 377201 tourists of which 315266 included domestic, 3259 foreigners and 58676 locals visited the garden over a period of 33 days – after thrown open to visitors on March 19,2023 upto April 20, 2023.
As per an official, the footfall this season was the highest ever. “We had 3.6 lakh tourists visiting the garden last year and this year it saw an increase making it the highest ever footfall in the history of this garden”, the official told GNS adding the period of tulip bloom this season lasted for 33 days, as compared to last year’s 27 day period, largely due to mild weather conditions.
“There were 68 varieties of tulips on display in the garden this season, out of these varieties, four new ones were introduced this year: Hamilton, Sweetheart, Cafe Noir and Christmas Dream”, the official said.
Expressing his satisfaction over the record number of visitors, the official further said the enormous flow of Tourists from within and outside the country motivates us and imbues in us courage to do more to make the visit to the garden a memorable experience. (GNS)
