Amritsar sees dip in tourist footfall after terror attack

The tourist footfall has dropped substantially in Amritsar following the Pahalgam terror attack, with 50 per cent of the hotel bookings cancelled in the past two days.

Meanwhile, the footfall at the Golden Temple also saw a decline, with around one-third of the rooms at its sarais (inns) remaining unoccupied.

On normal days, up to 1.25 lakh visitors pay obeisance at the Golden Temple.

The sarai manager of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Gurpreet Singh, said there has been a decline of at least 30 per cent in occupancy.

“The footfall of outstation devotees has dipped as 30 per cent of the rooms in sarais are lying vacant for the past two days, owing to either the Pahalgam attack or any other reason,” he said.

“The estimated footfall at the Golden Temple was between 75,000 and 80,000, which normally used to cross the 1-lakh mark. The booking numbers for the weekend are also very thin,” he said.

Golden Temple manager Bhagwant Singh Dhanghera agreed with him.

He attributed it to two reasons — Pahalgam incident and harvesting season.

Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association president APS Chatha said over 50 per cent the bookings had been cancelled after the terror attack. “Now, people are asking for a refund. We have been instructing hoteliers not to forfeit their money but convince them to get it adjusted against their future stay,” he said.

“Panic had also gripped guests due to the raids being conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the hotels as a part of precautionary security measures. The hotel staff and guests were being questioned. We have called an emergency meeting of hoteliers to deal with the situation,” he added.

Federation of Hotel and Guest Houses (Walled City) president Surinder Singh echoed the same views. “After the Pahalgam incident, tourists have diverted to Himachal Pradesh”, he said.