Tourism Boom Stretches the Queen of the Hills to Her Limits

Wepen, Darjeeling, June 15, 2019: Darjeeling has exhausted her carrying capacity in the field of tourism feels tourist operators. The ongoing tourism boom has stretched the tourism infrastructure of the hill town to the limit.
“Though the tourist season initially started on a slow pace owing to the general elections, it picked up with the completion of election process. Now there is a tourism boom that is expected to continue till June 20. Nearly all the hotels are sold out “ stated Samrat Sanyal, General Secretary, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.
However the tourism infrastructure is on the verge of snapping owing to the tourism onrush. Traffic snarls, drinking water woes, parking problems are some of the problems that the hill town faced.
“It took one and a half hour from Dali to Darjeeling, a distance of around 4 km. Along with this there has been a constant shortage of vehicles. In some cases the shortage was created in order to hike fares” alleged Dependra Tamang, a daily commuter.
“The administration has to look into all this. Parking facilities has to be made mandatory for star category hotels at least. On the other hand emphasis has to be given to ensure that tour operators function with responsibility. Tourism has to be sustainable and environment friendly” added Sanyal.
Meanwhile representatives of the travel and tour industry had met tourism minister Goutam Deb to discuss these issues.
“There has been heavy tourist inflow. We have requested private buses and taxis to stop overcharging. At present there are 4 Government buses running from Siliguri to Darjeeling and back along with 2 buses from Siliguri to Kalimpong and back. We have made arrangement to increase the number of government buses from June 15. An additional tourism department bus will ply between Siliguri to Darjeeling from June 17” stated tourism minister Deb.
7 buses of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation will ply in between Siliguri and Darjeeling and another 5 buses from Siliguri to Kalimpong.
The minister asked police and the Regional Traffic Officer to remain vigilant.  “No tourist should be harassed or overcharged” he added.
Every year more than seven lakh domestic tourists visit the region. The foreign tourist footfall is around 30,000.
The minister appealed to the police to address public grievances. “During Durga pujas there is a huge rush in the Hills and Dooars from Mahalaya to Bhai Phota. We have to have a tourist friendly system in place by September” stated Deb.