With rains playing havoc in Char Dham region, tourist traffic to neighbouring hill-stations and holiday destinations in Uttarakhandand Himachal Pradesh has been badly affected with travel industry reporting almost 100% cancellations. Harried travelers are opting for safer destinations like Rajasthan, Goa, Kashmir and even Kerala for their holidays as per a TOi report.
Richa Goyal Sikri, STIC director group business development: About 80% people have cancelled their bookings to the Uttrakhand region that used to be packed around this time of the year for both the Char Dham Yatra as well as adventure tourism popular in the district. This has also discouraged people from traveling to other hill stations like Mussourie, Nainital, Jim Corbett etc. which had full bookings for the summer season. We have seen a 50% cancellation rate here.'' Sikri said that insufficient information had prompted such reactions.
Kuoni India CEO (tour operating) Vishal Suri said that Indian tourists are opting for Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir while Yatra.com president Sharat Dhall added that Goa, Kerala and Ladakh were gaining popularity. Surprisingly, this time around Rajasthan is also picking up due to heavy rains that have struck Northern India and have resulted in floods and landslides at various tourist spots,'' Dhall said.
Thomas Cook's Rajeev Kale, COO (MICE, domestic, sports and cruises) said that there was strong demand from Kerala and Karnataka, with the North East continuing to witness its best ever sales season.
Tour operators say that the floods have not only destroyed tourist infrastructure like hotels, bed and breakfast inns and restaurants but set back tourism for the entire state by at least two years. The entire season is gone and another one hanging in doubt, the tourism revenues from the Uttrakhand region would definitely take a plunge. This will also have a ripple impact on the overall economy of the state and give rise to un-employment in the region,'' Sikri said.
(You need to login first to read complete news). New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News