BHOPAL: All people aged 18 and above have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Khajuraho town of Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said, leading the tourism industry to be optimistic about the business gaining momentum at the world-famous destination in the coming days.
While making the announcement on Saturday, Chouhan attributed the success in vaccination to the awareness of people of Khajuraho, located in Chhatarpur district, about 375 km from the state capital Bhopal.
The Khajuraho temples, which are a UNESCO world heritage site, are situated in the backward Bundelkhand region of the state.
Tourism industry stakeholders feel the business will now pick up in the area.
"During the pandemic, all big and small hotels in Khajuraho were completely shut as the local hospitality business is dependent on visitors from outside. Now, being a 100 per cent vaccinated town, we can expect some tourist influx in the coming days," Ajay Kashyap, a travel agent in Khajuraho, told PTI on Sunday.
He said domestic visitors have started visiting the temple town since the second COVID-19 wave subsided.
"Khajuraho gets the largest foreign tourist footfalls in Madhya Pradesh. But, the return of foreign visitors to Khajuraho may take time in view of the air transport restrictions due to COVID-19 and other restraints in their own country," he said.
Chhatarpur Collector Shilendra Singh said 13,659 people aged 18 years and above have been vaccinated in Khajuraho.
Volunteers in the fight against COVID-19 were honoured for their contribution in raising awareness about vaccination, he said.
According to health department officials, 2,77,07,815 vaccine doses against COVID-19 have so far been administered in Madhya Pradesh.
On Saturday, MP reported six new cases of coronavirus, which took its tally of infections to 7,91,738, as per the state health department.
With no fresh casualties, the toll stood at 10,512, while the count of recoveries reached 7,81,077, an official earlier said, adding that the state is currently left with 149 active cases.