Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A drop in arrivals of foreign tourists at Ajanta Caves compared to Ellora Caves is becoming a matter of great concern and debate. This pushes the administrations concerned to jot down reasons for it and overcome them on priority to ease and increase the flow of foreign tourists at the painted caves.
During the COVID-19, tourist places in and around the city were deserted. However, now the tourist destinations are returning to their former state, and the number of foreign tourists has also increased once again. After a gap of three years to the pandemic, 2024 has seen the highest number of foreign tourists visiting the tourism capital - Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. However, what is more concerning is that compared to the world heritage Ajanta Caves (100 km away), foreigners have shown the most interest in visiting another world heritage Ellora Caves (30 km away).
Boxx
In 2024, over 23,000 foreigners visited Ellora Caves and more than 12,000 visited Ajanta Caves.
Foreign tourists at Ajanta Caves
Year- Number of Visitors
April 2021 - March 2022: 409
April 2022 - March 2023: 6,967
April 2023 - December 2023: 6,788
January 2024 - December 2024: 12,849
Foreign tourists at Ellora Caves
Year - Number of Visitors
April 2021 - March 2022: 605
April 2022 - March 2023: 10,744
April 2023 - December 2023: 8,933
January 2024 - December 2024: 23,976