Tour operators are appealing to
all political parties to spare the tourism industry during agitation as a
considerable population from the Hills earn their living from it. Foreign
countries like US and UK has issued advisories to their citizens, asking them
to be careful before planning trips to Darjeeling, is going to add more to the
damage.
Tapas Roy, secretary, Eastern
Himalayan Tour and Travel Operators’ Association (EHTTOA), said, “Though it is
off-season, still there were 30-35% bookings from students and corporate
houses. All of these have been cancelled. Bookings for the Pujas had just
started.
This year, there was a lot of interest among people from outside
Bengal as the West Bengal tourism Department is holding road shows in various
states. Not only have the number of bookings come down, we are being asked by
tourists what they should do. We have no answers. Last year and the first half
of 2013 were very good as far as tourism is concerned. We had hoped for a very
good season with Uttarakhand remaining out of bounds and renewed trouble in
Jammu and Kashmir”.
Around 1.75 lakh visitors
(including about 15,000 foreigners) come to Darjeeling every year. According to
Roy, the yearly business level is to the tune of Rs 400 crore and nearly 65% of
it is ploughed back to the local economy. About 50% of the population benefits
from this industry, either directly or indirectly.
Roy also added, “We are keeping
our hopes alive. In the past, bandhs have been withdrawn on two or three
incidents. Tourism was not affected in Kerala during the Bharat bandh. The
government of Nepal had arranged green buses for tourists when there was Maoist
trouble. We have appealed to all political parties to spare the tourism
industry during current disturbances”.
According to S P Singh of Eastern
Tourism, an agency based in Kolkata, the curiosity among people to visit the
Hills has faded. Operators are trying their best to avoid panic cancellation of
bookings right now.
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