Gir braces for a lion’s share of tourists, hotels on a leash.

Express News Service Tags : Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Asiatic Lions, ahmedabad Posted: Sat Nov 06 2010, 03:42 hrs Rajkot:

With record-breaking influx of tourists at Sasan, the only home to Asiatic Lions at Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the Junagadh district administration has for the first time stepped in to contain commercial exploitation of tourists by hotels and restaurants at a time when the state government is showcasing Gir as the tourism hotspot in Gujarat.
The local administration claimed that Khusboo Gujarat Ki campaign, a series of tourism advertisements featuring Amitabh Bachchan, has been a success. As a result, the number of tourists at Sasan this Diwali has gone up almost two-fold than the previous years. Some 20 hotels and resorts in the area have been booked full to their capacity till mid-November.
The forest department too has been on its toes as it has doubled the permit quota per day for the GWS to accommodate heavy tourist rush.
“The result of advertisement campaign is there to see for us in the first season itself. Sasan has been flooded with tourists like never before,” said local mamlatdar Rekhaba Servaiya, adding that “the same administration has stepped up vigil to prevent exploitation of tourists”. 
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gir-braces-for-a-lions-share-of-tourists-hotels-on-a-leash/707504/