Heat brings down tourist inflow to Amritsar

Neeraj Bagga

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Amritsar, May 27

General Election and heatwave have brought down the flow of tourists, especially those with high paying capacity to the holy city, resulting in room occupancy plummeting in hotels. Luxury hotels are the worst hit. Incidentally, Amritsar has the maximum number of hotels in Punjab.

The restoration of rail traffic raised a glimmer of hope for the hospitality sector, tour and taxi operators who are expecting good business in the summer vacation season, which commences after the conclusion of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election, spread across six weeks in the country.

The luxury segment of hotels recorded a sharp dip in room occupancy, between 30 to 40 per cent. Traders associated with indigenous industries like shawls, Punjabi Jutti, Papad Warriyan and others also find their sales crashing.

The holy city boasts of an array of luxury properties including Radisson Blu, Ramada, Hyatt, Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn, Taj Swarna, Le Meridian, Fairfield by Marriott, ITC Welcome, Lemon Tree and many more.

Gurinder Singh, a hotelier, said the tourism industry has been bearing the downturn since the rail blockade at Shambhu border over a month ago. The Lok Sabha election only accentuated the trouble. Hotel occupancy has dipped and the sale of indigenous items bought as souvenirs by tourists plunged. He felt that high paying tourists were engaged in the election process and were holding back from undertaking recreational tours with their families.

Another hotelier Jatinder Singh said at present, those tourists were visiting the holy city, known to undertake long distance travels in AC and ordinary buses. They avoid booking rooms in luxury properties. Besides, they hardly stay for a night. They prefer to stay in low tariff lodges costing between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per room, he said.

People associated with the hospitality sector lament that the industry here has been reeling under one blow after the other during the past eight months, upsetting their calculations. Initially, the monsoon season witnessed diseases like Chikungunya and dengue which hit tourism. Then over a month-long harsh winter held back the tourists. The farmers’ stir, General Election and scorching heat are causing them losses, they rued.