Mannyem Wangnao of Longwa Village under Mon distrect of Nagaland pronounces festival blessing at the opening ceremony of Hornbill Festival at Naga Heritage Village Kisama on December 1. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Kohima | December 2
In a sign of the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, visitors to the opening day of the premier Hornbill Festival of Nagaland was down by 72.48% percent on December 1.
As per data provided by Toka E Tuccumi, Assistant Director, Directorate of Tourism, Nagaland, the first day of the festival registered 12,420 visitors at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on Wednesday.
This represented nearly three-fourth drop from the last edition of the festival in 2019 when the opening day footfall stood at 45,142.
There were more ‘encouraging’ data in terms of domestic tourists as the figure stood at 2,882 as against 4,954 in 2019.
Foreign tourists and local visitors on first day, however, fell drastically when compared with 2019 data.
In the case of foreign visitors, the number fell from 407 in 2019 to 11 in 2021. Likewise, the number of local visitors showed a sharp decline from 39,781 in 2019 to just 9,527 on December 1, 2021.
