Incessant monsoon rains over the past couple of months, triggering frequent landslides and cave-ins on roads connecting Sikkim and Bengal's Kalimpong, have left stakeholders of the tourism industry fearful of a low tourist turnout during this festive season.
Tourists from Bengal and beyond are expected to start pouring into north Bengal and Sikkim from next week.
“So far, the picture is not very bright, particularly in the case of Sikkim and Kalimpong, as bookings are low in most hotels. The main reason is the frequent disruptions in road connectivity. Many tourists are having second thoughts about whether they should visit these places because landslides and cave-ins have blocked some of the principal roads of the region in recent times,” said Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network, one of the major tourism stakeholders in the area.
He pointed out that usually, during the festive season — from Durga Puja to the Chhath Puja — the average occupancy rate in hotels ranges from 70 to 75 per cent.
“However, this year, it has not crossed 50 per cent in some of the hotels and resorts in Sikkim and Kalimpong. Darjeeling, however, remains the most preferred destination because there hasn’t been any major disruption in the road connectivity to the hill town,” added Sanyal.
The stakeholders pointed out that even on Tuesday, a landslide occurred between Singtam and Rangpo on NH10, the highway that connects Sikkim and Gangtok, its capital, with Siliguri and the rest of the country.
Landslides occurred in other locations of Sikkim such as Mangan, Gyalshing, Namchi and Soreng in recent days, including Tuesday.
“Due to rainfall, as the Teesta swelled, the road connectivity between Darjeeling and Kalimpong also got disrupted for almost half of the day on Tuesday. Such factors are discouraging tourists. We are keeping fingers crossed and hope tourist footfall will be steady, or else the industry will suffer losses,” said Debashis Chakraborty, the general secretary of Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators’ Association.
He said that due to consistent natural disasters in northern India, many domestic tourists wanted to visit north Bengal and the Northeast.
“But it is still raining and landslides are often reported in this part of the country. We hope the weather improves during the next few days so that tourists do not face any hassle," he said.
Weathermen, however, forecasted more rainfall in the sub-Himalayan Bengal and Sikkim during the next few days.
“The southwest monsoon has started retreating, but is still active in the region. There is a forecast of rainfall during the next four to five days,” said an expert.
New package
The Kalimpong district administration has taken up the initiative to introduce a new tourism package later this month.
Balasubramanian T., the district magistrate, said tourists would be taken to some traditional manufacturing units of paper, cheese, noodles and handicraft that are known as ‘heritage industries’ of Kalimpong.
“We have decided to launch a new package on September 27, World Tourism Day, so that tourists can visit these units in an organised manner and can see how traditional products are made,” he said.
On the same day, the administration will also launch an upgraded version of Kalimpong Calling, a coffee table book.