The Ranthambore administration stated that the booking window for safaris scheduled between October 1 and December 31 of this year commenced at 12 noon on August 1.
In that short span, approximately 40,000 tourists registered, including around 14,000 international visitors.
Officials noted that a significant number of users accessed the official website simultaneously, resulting in a considerable spike in traffic. Nevertheless, the portal — along with its verification, booking processes, and live reporting systems — operated smoothly even during peak hours.
As per Manas Singh, the Deputy Conservator of Forests at Ranthambore, a noteworthy aspect of the new system was that seats remained available across various safari options even two hours after bookings had opened.
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”Seats were still available for numerous dates, even during busy periods such as Diwali and Christmas holidays. The real-time seat availability on the portal allowed tourists to conveniently select dates and safari options, enhancing transparency and user experience,” he mentioned.
Despite facing heavy online traffic, numerous cyber attack attempts and unauthorized activities were identified and effectively thwarted by the system, he added.
”During the booking phase, around 20 lakh suspicious cyber attack attempts, over 150 questionable IP addresses, and more than two crore fraudulent requests were successfully blocked. The portal managed to function normally throughout this process,” Singh explained. This year, for the first time, international tourists were permitted to directly book safaris from their countries via the official portal, which yielded positive results right from the start.
Nearly 40% of the total bookings were made by foreign tourists, with around 200 individuals logging in independently to complete their reservations.
Online bookings were reported from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands.
The Ranthambore administration indicated that the new digital system aims to create a booking process that is more transparent, simple, and fair for all tourists. They expressed optimism that this initiative would lead to a smoother, safer, and more efficient booking experience for the upcoming tourism season.
