Over 2.9L people visit Statue of Unity during Diwali vacations

The Gujarat government on Monday said over 2.91 lakh tourists visited the Statue of Unity during Diwali vacations over the last 10 days.

It said the total number of visitors to the Sardar Patel Memorial since it was inaugurated on October 31 last year and opened for the public the next day now stood at over 29.32 lakh.

"A total of 27.17 lakh tourists visited Statue of Unity during its first year, that is from November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019. While in the first 10 days of November this year, 2.91 lakh tourists visited the site, taking the total number of visitors to the spot to 29.32 lakh," a release from the state government said.

"The average number of tourists per day during Diwali holidays stood at 22,434 as against 14,918 per day during last year's Diwali holidays. This is an increase of 50.4 per cent," it said, adding that the rise was due to new attractions developed at the site.

Overall, the average number of tourists is recorded as 9,063 per day, whereas in normal working days it is 7,030 per day and on Saturday and Sunday it is 13,071 per day, it said.

The state tourism department has earned an aggregate income of Rs 80.65 crore so far from the flow of visitors, the release informed.

"Thus, Kevadia has been transformed into an unmatched tourist destination," it claimed.

The Statue of Unity, the tallest such structure in the world at 182 metres, is situated on an islet in Kevadiya in Narmada district.