The Gujarat government onFriday informed the legislative Assembly that over 78,000 less tourists visited the much-acclaimed 'Rann Utsav' in Kutch district in 2019 as compared to 2018.While 5.16 lakh national as well as international tourists visited the famed destination in 2018, 4.38 lakh travellers attended the festival in 2019, a drop of 78,000, said Tourism Minister Jwahar Chavda in his written reply.He was responding to a query by Shailesh Parmar (Congress) Rann Utsav, a music and dance carnival celebrated during winter months.Responding to a sub-question regarding international tourists, Chavda said as against 8,186 international tourists in 2018, nearly half - that is 4,457 - came last year to enjoy the white sands of Rann of Kutch, indicating a drop of 3,729.While a revenue of Rs 2.90 crore was generated by the festival in 2018, the income figure in 2019 stood at Rs 2.10 crore, Rs 80 lakh less, he said.Rann Utsav, celebrated since 2005, was started by Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister to boost tourism.
