This election, new observers: foreign tourists

Parul Thakur, general manager at Courtyard by Mariott, affirms an increase in occupancy of about 10 per cent as compared to last year. "Even with respect to tourists, we have seen a growth of about 15 per cent and have garnered 90 per cent bookings in November and December and are looking at an equal occupancy in January. The number of business travellers has trebled while tourist footfall has also increased this year."

Encouraged by the growing popularity and heavy demand, the state government has added a venue for business conferences to the Rann Utsav. "Our aim is to garner 95 per cent bookings this season and hope to get a footfall of 8,000 tourists in the tent city area and 50,000 tourists through the month," said Nirav Munshi, Manager, Tours and Travel, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited.

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