Despite last-minute preparations, visitor numbers during summer festival season increased 28% in 2026

Preparation are underway at Government Botanical Garden. Image used for representation purpose only.

| Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy

Despite the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly elections leading to preparations for the annual summer festival in The Nilgiris being delayed, visitor numbers to the district’s main tourist attraction — The Government Botanical Garden (GBG) increased by 28% in 2026, statistics from the State horticulture department show.

Though the visitor numbers witnessed a slight decrease in April of this year when compared with 2025, the numbers increased substantially in May of this year, with a total of 4.67 lakh visitors being recorded, as opposed to 3.62 lakh visitors for the same month in 2025.

The figures indicate that average daily visitor numbers during the peak summer month of May stood at more than 15,000 visitors to the garden each day, which is more than 3,000 average tourists a day more than last year.

The total visitor numbers to the GBG are used as a measure to gauge the tourist inflow into the district as the tourist spot witnesses the highest footfall at any one tourist location in The Nilgiris. According to officials, visitor numbers could have decreased slightly in April of this year due to the elections taking place.

With the election results being declared in May and a new government taking charge, preparations for the annual shows — the Rose Show, Flower Show, Plantation Crops Show and Fruit Show, were delayed, officials said. Despite no Ministers visiting the shows this year and minimal promotions of the summer shows, visitor numbers showed a positive trend, they added.

Also Read : Excitement eclipses intense heat at Yercaud summer festival

“It must also be kept in mind that there were heavy rains during the end of the summer festival season last year, that also led to a reduction in tourist numbers. This year, the lack of any disruptive rains, combined with higher temperatures in the plains could have led to more people visiting the hills for their vacation,” an official from the tourism department added.

Published - June 07, 2026 02:04 pm IST