Floods in Kerala, Himachal and Uttarakhand affect tourism badly

Published on : Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Floods in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have put tourism this Diwali in bad shape, according to tour operators. Terrorism continues to haunt Jammu and Kashmir.

Shorter Diwali vacation in schools has also forced people to cut short their travel plans.

 
“People are not ready to go to Kerala due to back-to-back floods. Coorg and other destinations in neighbouring Karnataka have also been affected. The rise in airlines fare for Kerala has also hit clients hard,” said Anuj Pathak, secretary of Travel Agents Association of Gujarat (TAG). He added that earlier seven out of 10 inquiries got converted into bookings two months before Diwali. However, this year only four are getting converted. “People are also rationalizing their expenses. Those who had a budget of Rs two lakh are restricting themselves with up to Rs. one lakh,” added Pathak.

 
Lack of inquiries for traditional tourists hubs means that there would be a tremendous rush at relatively shorter destinations like Rajasthan and Goa. Tour operators are also promoting North Eastern states to attract tourists. On the other hand international destinations are turning out to be major attractions for the younger generation that has high amount of disposable income. “There is a growing demand for Dubai, Bangkok, Maldives and Singapore. There are concerns that Rupee may further depreciate, but for this specific section of tourists, it is not a matter of concern,” said Bhavin Shah, director of World Travels.