The West Bengal government declared hotels can resume operations from 8th June to get a grip on the economic downfall of the state. But, hoteliers from Darjeeling, Bengal’s top tourist destination have decided to not open the doors for their customers from 1st July.
Over 350 hotels and homestays in Darjeeling town and outskirts accommodate more than 4.5 Lakh tourists every year under the Darjeeling Hotel Owners’ Association (DHOA) will be closed for the indefinite period, stating it’s not feasible to operate as barely tourists will visit the hills.
Covid-19 took a heavy toll on Darjeeling tourism and mostly in the tourism sector. As the vivid fear of COVID-19 has put a hatch brake on travelling. This drastic move is likely going to leave more than 10,000 workers unemployed for a long period of time.
Tourism is the backbone of the local economy and the peak tourism season in the hills is from mid-March to June. The next season starts from October to January.
Sangay Teshring President of the association said, we don’t see any arrival of tourists in the hills, in the near future.
He further added, In the plains, hotels get corporate and other clients. However, in the hills, most of our clients are on vacation. However, we keep our finger crossed for the next tourism season.
DHOA general secretary Vinod Khanna said, it’ll be difficult to sustain with no hope of income because of the COVID-19 scare. Our primary tourism period is over and we don’t expect tourism to boost during the prevailing situation of the country. Therefore, we have decided to shut operations from July.
He further added, we have decided to pay 35 per cent salaries to our employees till June. We would be looking for different ways to start our operations for the sake of our employees.
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