India-SL ODI: Hoteliers eye good biz

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, December 7

The tourism industry of Dharamsala that is going through a lean period these days has high hopes from the India-Sri Lanka one-day international cricket match scheduled here on December 10.

Both the teams arrived here in the afternoon for the opening match of the ODI series. Though Indian captain Virat Kohli is likely to miss the match, the HPCA is expecting that it will not have much impact on the audience.

The stadium has a seating capacity of about 20,000. The HPCA has added two more stands in the stadium. This has increased the seating capacity by about 5,000.

Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the upper Dharamsala hotel association, said in the last two months, the tourist influx had been very low. Earlier in October and November, European tourists used to visit the area. However, this year the number of tourists has been abysmally low.

“We hope that the cricket match will boost the tourism for at least one week”, he said adding that for the time being booking for the match have been lean.

Meanwhile, the HPCA, in a press note, said they were beefing up the security for the upcoming first one-day international match.

“We have installed HD cameras to capture even the close movement and minute details on the ground and installed door frame metal detectors on every entry point to avoid smuggling of disguised material into the stadium,” the HPCA said. The association spokesperson also pointed out that transtile machines would be installed at all strategic points for the checking of tickets and prioritising the overall security of players and spectators and also to check the fake tickets.

“Match will boost tourism”

• In the last two months, the tourist influx has been very low. Earlier in October and November, European tourists used to visit the area. However, this year the number of tourists has been abysmally low
• “We hope that the cricket match will boost the tourism”, said Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Dharamsala hotel association.