Bhubaneswar, Oct. 10: The tourism sector in the state has suffered a setback with the looming cyclonic storm, Hudhud, which is expected to hit the coast on October 12.

Though the Met department has predicted that the gale will not cause much damage in the state, the fear psychosis among tourists is running high.

A Met official said the cyclone would hit the coast between Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Gopalpur in Odisha on Sunday, exactly a year after cyclone Phailin hit the Odisha coast causing massive damage to Ganjam district and affecting other parts of the state.

This time, though Hudhud is expected to cause greater damage in the neighbouring state than Odisha, tourists, by and large, have cancelled their bookings for the next few days. Worst affected is the Gopalpur beach, which witnesses heavy footfall throughout the year. Last year, the town had borne the brunt of Phailin.

Sources said tourists, who had booked rooms in the Gopalpur beach resort, cancelled their bookings in panic due to Hudhud.

Uma Panigrahi, president of the Ganjam Hotel Owners’ Association and owner of the Rajarani Resort said five tourists from Bengal, who had been staying in her hotel at Gopalpur, vacated the hotel last evening.

“Tourist inflow into the hotels at Gopalpur-on-sea generally reaches its peak during Dussehra. The inflow continues even after the Pujas. But, the earlier report of the possibilities of Hudhud hitting Gopalpur caused panic among all the tourists,” said Panigrahi. There are more than 10 big hotels on the Gopalpur beach.

The hotel and tourism sector in Puri, Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state have also been affected due to the initial fear of the cyclone affecting many coastal districts. With the state government alerting 16 district administrations to be prepared in the advent of the cyclone, panic has gripped the tourists much before the experts could predict its exact impact.

Debadatta Nayak, manager at Hotel Swasti in Bhubaneswar, said that after the news of the cyclone had been flashed, around 50 per cent bookings were cancelled. Raj Kishore Patra, managing director of Hotel Holiday Resort in Puri, said that though the news had caused a panic, later the scenario changed.

“We have cancelled 20 per cent bookings in the past few days. As this cyclone is not as devastating as Phailin, we hope it will not affect much,” said Patra.

However, officials in the hotel and tourism sector in the coastal areas have mixed views regarding the storm. Tourist officer of Puri district Bijay Jena said that after the reports of the cyclone having less impact in this part had been declared, there was no panic seen among the tourists.

He said those, who had been in Puri, preferred to witness the cyclone that would have very less impact here. “But, we have instructed them not to go into the sea during this period and whenever they go near the sea they must be accompanied by lifeguards,” he said.

K.K. Rao, secretary of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha, said that as the cyclone would hit Andhra, it would not affect the Odisha tourism much.

“After the Met office’s latest updates about the storm, tourists are assured of no harm this time and they are booking rooms and coming as usual. But, we are keeping a watch on next two days as the storm is going to hit the coast on Sunday,” said Rao.