Darjeeling and Sikkim expects bright festive season

Friday, June 22, 2018

Tourism hotspots like Darjeeling and Sikkim in the Eastern Himalayan region are expecting a bright festive season with a large chunk of its capacity already booked even four months before the onset of the season. The trend now is bringing cheers to everyone’s face in the tourism industry, which is one of the main economy builders of the hilly region.

Gautam Deb. Tourism Minister of the state said, “We are expecting very bright tourist inflow this year festive season. To ensure better accommodations even in off track locations, we are streamlining all home stay initiatives. Transport infrastructure is also being revamped.”

“Almost 50% of all accommodations for the peak days of the season are already booked,” said Sandipan Ghosh, Secretary, Eastern Himalayan Tour and Travel Operators Association. “Booking status for other days of the season is also very encouraging,” Deb added.

 
With around 12,000 bed per night holding capacity, Darjeeling and adjoining hills including Sikkim generates annual tourism business volume of around Rs. 350 crore per annum. Festive season, which contributes around 30-35% to that, runs from 15th September-15th Nov. Christmas and year end vacation-based tourist movement starts from 20th December.

But, for many past years, tourism business did not look bright mainly due to political turmoil in Darjeeling hills. Unprecedented 104 days long strike in 2017 marked an irreparable dent on Darjeeling’s image in the world tourism arena. Moreover, the devastating effects of earthquakes in Sikkim in 2011 and Nepal in 2015 also contributed to decline in tourists.

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