Darjeeling Agitation for Statehood affects Tourism in the Hills

After the declaration of Telengana as India’s 29^th State, Darjeeling has erupted and the agitation has put the tourism to the backfoot. Tourist planning to spend Durga Puja in the hills and Sikkim has now started to dial tourist operators to find out whether is it safe to make trips to Darjeeling, given the Morcha’s plan of agitation.

With the recent flood in Uttarakhand, people longing for the hill tours were planning for trip to Darjeeling, but with the recent agitation, it would surely bring an adverse impact over the hills tourism. Tour operators who did good business in the year 2011 and 2012 after the lean period in 2007, said, if the strikes continue and if there is call of an indefinite strike, then the bookings for the hills would start cancelled.

“A large number of tourists from Bengal and other states have booked accommodations in the hills of north Bengal and Sikkim because they cannot go to Uttarakhand now. This year, Darjeeling JUST CLICK AWAY…http://www.darjeelingtourismpackages.com/ is likely to be in great demand too and Sikkim would have been a hit during Durga Puja. About 65 to 70 per cent of hotel rooms, both government and private, have been booked already in north Bengal and Sikkim,” said Raj Basu, the tourism advisor to the Sikkim government.

Before the agitation, hotels have received 10-12 % bookings for Christmas, but the uncertainty and the strikes, the hotels booking are getting cancelled and hoteliers are losing the clients. Thousands of people in the hills are engaged in the tourism department and they are sure to suffer, be it the hills or the plains. The ray of hope in now upon the Bengal Chief Minister and if the peace and normalcy is maintained, tourist can still come to Darjeeling without any hassle.

According to the sources, there are around 16,000 hotel rooms and all these rooms used to be fully booked during the peak season that begin from mid september. Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators’ Association are about the consequences and the results of the Morcha’s Movement.

Sadhan Roy, the general secretary of the association, said: “it is tough to revive the image of the state and the tourism  particularly the hills (if the tourists go away). We are helpless. We can only request political parties to keep tourism out of the purview of bandhs,” he said.

Tranporters and hotel owners in Siliguri sounded worried.

A transporter said, “Many of us have bought properties and have taken vehicles and hotels on lease by obtaining loans from banks and other institutions. If the tourism industry is affected in this way, it would be very tough for us to pay the installments and run our familiars.

“ The issue or the strike is not only going to affect us, but the thousands of other workers, who are engaged in this industry engaged in drive vehicles and hotels. If our earnings will decline, how will we pay to them? This is going to bring bad impact over the region’s economy.”

 This is not just the first time, Darjeeling has witness such problem, but the constant demand of the Gorkhaland has affected tourism and the economy of the hills. If the initiative is not taken in the right time, it would again be very tough to regain the image of the hills as an important tourism destination in North East India.. REFERENCE