Tourists have started canceling their plans due to which around 1,500 hotels in Darjeeling are vacant.
The hotels which used to be filled mostly by the Bengali tourists for half the year are now empty thereby affecting thousands of people working in the sector. Those working in the hospitality sector have been affected the most as they are not being paid by the hotel operators, citing huge losses.
“The number of tourists had started to dwindle after the agitation was launched. Now there are no tourists visiting Darjeeling,” said Bal Krishna Gurung, proprietor of Hotel Sakura at Hill Cart Road. “We are left with no option than to close the hotels.” [break]
Darjeeling which used to get a steady flow of tourists from September to November is very likely to suffer a lot this year.
In fact the hoteliers have already suffered a lot as the summer is the peak season in the hill station.
“In the previous summers, there used to be a crowd of tourists who used to visit Darjeeling to enjoy the majestic view of Mount Kanchenjunga, and the hotels used to have full occupancy,” laments Kala Pradhan, proprietor of Hotel Camino at Gandhi Road.
Though the hotels in Darjeeling operate fully only for six months, the hoteliers said that they earn a profit of around Rs 200,000 to Rs 600,000 during that period. The hoteliers mostly close their hotels in winter as a very few tourists visit the hill station then.
The price of the hotels in Darjeeling varies as per the season. During winter, from end of November to February, which is the off season, tourists have to pay just Indian Rupee (INR) 200 for a night stay and breakfast while for the same service in the peak season costs around INR 600.
“The business during the peak season used to sustain us during winter when there are no tourists,” said Bhim Prasad Sharma, proprietor of Himanchal Hotel.
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