Emerging Trends in Wildlife and Tiger Tourism in India

This paper examined visitor numbers and gate fees in 176 wildlife reserves including 36 tiger reserves in India. In 2014–2015, 4,623,134 tourists visited 118 wildlife reserves, and 32% of visitors were to tiger reserves. From 2005 to 2015, visitors grew by 192% in National Parks and 53% for Wildlife Sanctuaries, with tiger reserves reporting a 90% increase. Across reserves, domestic visitors increased from 90% to 96% in this decade. The average estimated gate fees for domestic visitors were $1, and for international visitors was $6, which is much lower than reserves in Africa and the Americas. Domestic tourism comprises >95% of wildlife tourism in India. This presents huge opportunities to engage the Indian public to care for, support and take pride in India’s wildlife. However, this brings significant challenges with regard to managing the onslaught of visitors, vehicular traffic and tourism infrastructure (hotels and homestays) in each reserve.