Hyderabad love for tigers

Hyderabad travellers stand third after their counterparts from Bengaluru and Mumbai for heading to Tiger Trails to look at the majestic beast. The findings came to light in a recently released survey from HolidayIQ.

The study also showed the fast-growing nature of Tiger Tourism by 230 per cent. Travellers reported spending an average of Rs 15,500 on their Tiger Trail holidays in 2014. Looking at 2015 spend, this number increased to Rs 17,686.

The findings unveil that the most visited tiger reserves in India include Bandipur National Park, Sunderbans National Park, Mudumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and Ranthambore National Park.

Cities from where maximum numbers of Tiger trails are planned (in order) are Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Nagpur and Coimbatore.

Hari Nair, Founder and CEO, HolidayIQ said, "In India dwells the world’s largest tiger population. The rise, from 1,706 tigers in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014 is definitely positive news. Interestingly Tiger Trails have grown in popularity across all traveller groups. Generally, we see couple travellers accounting for close to 50 per cent of most leisure holidays. The trails are also popular with families and the share is couple travellers accounting for 36 per cent, family travelers 32 per cent and group holidayers accounting for 28 per cent of all tiger trails planned.

“The recent initiative by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to establish Tiger safaris in the buffer zones of tiger reserves is yet another interesting move, which will celebrate the majestic animal sensitively and sensibly. It will also bring in revenue which can be used for the welfare of the endangered species,” he added.