The hilly Darjeeling region is likely to see a high drop in domestic tourist traffic due to anticipated unrest in the region.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the dominant political organisation in the region, said it would hold prolonged protests unless its demand for inclusion of 398 mouzas in the newly formed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is met. The GJM will meet West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on June 16. If talks fail, GJM is expected to start an agitation movement.
“Every time there is a hint of political crisis in the Darjeeling region, we see a near 70 per cent cancellation in bookings. On top of that, travellers from outside West Bengal prefer to scrap such trips to the entire North-Eastern region fearing the unrest,” Mr Hari Nair, CEO of a Bangalore-based travel portal, HolidayIQ, said.
Market sources said it is generally the hotels and other small industries dependent on tourists that are affected in case of agitations and prolonged protests.
North Bengal Plans
Another travel management company, Zest India Tours, is also worried about dip in Darjeeling bookings or new cancellations following GJM's stir. The impact, according to the company, will extend to the northern regions of Bengal, especially in the Terai and Dooars regions. “If there are protests in Darjeeling, the impact would extend till the Terai and Dooars regions. However, impacts will be mutated to some extent as the peak season ends in June,” Mr Kaushik Ghosh, director, Zest India Tours, said.
Market sources feel that another area of impact would be Sikkim. However, operators are yet to assess the impact of the neighbouring State.
Change in Plans
While majority of the tour operators fret over declining travel bookings, some others are planning to divert the traffic to other destinations in North-East.
“If there's probability of unrest, we usually diversify our product baskets and offer travellers a trip to Shillong and other north-eastern hilly regions. We don't want to lose our pie,” Mr Debmalya Banerjee, group Vice-President - corporate affairs, I-Nova, said. I-Nova manages a travel company called Travo.
ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in