Tourism in Darjeeling back in business in Puja holidays

 Most   of   the homestays are booked till October 15  with  the  possibility  of  more arrivals in the month-end.

EOI, DARJEELING,     OCT     9, 2022 : Tourism  in  the  hills  is  back  in business after the two years of the pandemic-induced     lull,     with tourists making the most of the extended Durga puja holiday. Most of the hotels rooms are booked  to  capacity  in  the  town areas of the hills, but homestays are    saving    the    day    for    the adventure-starved tourists finding it difficult to get accommodation. Darjeeling    Association    of Travel Agents (DATA) said the puja season  was  "tremendous"  and would   extend   till   the   Diwali festival. 

"For Durga puja mostly Bengali tourists flock up. However, we    will    have    tourists    from Maharashtra   and   Gujarat   till possibly    the    third    week    of November," said Pradeep Lama, general secretary of  DATA. Lama also said homestays had managed to cut into the business of hotels because of  the demand. 

"We think nearly 30 to 40 percent of the tourists are in various homestays across the hills at the moment. May be hotels in towns are feeling the effect. But overall the season has been good," he said. Kalimpong, which has around 337 homestays, is making hay while the   sun   shines.   Most   of   the homestays are booked till October 15  with  the  possibility  of  more arrivals in the month-end. "We have a lot of guests booked from October end. It looks promising. Also with the  pandemic  curbs  lifted  and resumption of  international travel, we    will    definitely    get    good business," said Kabir Pradhan who runs   a   homestay   in   Ecchay, Palighar,  in  Kalimpong.  Rajeeb Shaee, secretary of the Kalimpong Integrated  Tourism  Awareness Society    said    occupancy    for October   was   good.   

"Most   of the homestays  are  booked  beyond October 15. It seems tourists are making up for the lost two years due to Covid-19," he said. Dhiren Pradhan, owner of AliceVilla in Darjeeling, said the April to June season and the puja season had been at par with pre-Covid times. "Puja is generally a tourism window of  seven to 10 days. We had good  occupancy.  Next,  we  are anticipating a good tourist turnout during  the  winter  period,  with Christmas and New Year," he said. 

Other    hotels    pointed    out increased flight fares had affected the  way  tourists  planned  the itinerary. "Most of  my 45 rooms were     booked.     However,     the increase  in  flight  fares  forced several guests to cancel their travel to the hills," said Rajesh Rajak,general manager of Pinetree Spa and Resort. The Padmaja Naidu Hinalayan      Zoological      Park (PNHZP)     more     popular as Darjeeling zoo which witnessed a footfall of over 800,00 tourists in the April to June period saw a low turnout for the puja season. "We received   around   1200   to   1400 tourists against the normal 2200 in comparision,  this  time,"  said  a Darjeeling zoo source.