Birders generated a business of Rs113 crore in 2009!

Has the sudden interest of the department of forest & environment and department of tourism of Gujarat in boosting the avian-tourism and ecotourism in Jamnagar come as a surprise?

Here’s one possible simple rationale — around 45,000 birdwatchers in India generated a business worth a whopping Rs113 crore in 2009.

By 2025, this community is expected to expand to 117 million and the business the birders will generate will understandably be astoundingly enough.

These figures were stated in a presentation by Dr Bakul Trivedi, secretary of Birds Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG), on the second day of the Global Bird Watchers’ Conference in Jamnagar on Friday. The conference marks the
beginning of an ambitious initiative by Gujarat to cash in on the beautiful avian tourists that the state plays host to every year.