The Darjeeling hills are faring better than Sikkim in the ongoing tourist season in a reversal of trends, say stakeholders who have got hotels in both the regions.
According to tourism stakeholders, the tourist footfalls in Darjeeling have been steady and good since Durga Puja and will remain so right till February.
“In fact, we can say this is one of the best winter seasons in a long time. We have good bookings for January and a couple of big conferences in February,” said Samir Singhal, the secretary of the Darjeeling Hotel Owners’ Association.
There are 370-odd hotels in the Darjeeling hills, apart from over 100 homestays.
The consistency of snowfall in the upper reaches of Sikkim like Nathu-la and Changu Lake and other places in north Sikkim, including Lachung and Lachen, has always drawn visitors to the Himalayan state during the winter.
It is accepted that Sikkim has been receiving more tourists than Darjeeling for the past one decade.
“After Puja this year, the occupancy rate at my hotel in Gangtok hovered around 27 per cent, while it was 70 per cent in Darjeeling,” said a hotelier who has properties both in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills.
The footfall is slowly picking up in Gangtok during the ongoing ChristmasNew Year week.
“However, the figures are still better for Darjeeling even during this period. Apart from the Christmas figures, bookings in Gangtok for January are still low,” the hotelier added.
Many tourism stakeholders cited the lack of connectivity as the major stumbling block to the dwindling number of visitors in Sikkim.
Taxi fares are also being pointed out as one of the reasons for the tourists’ disinterest in Sikkim.
“Travelling across north Sikkim for three days and two nights would cost around Rs 18,500. These days, the fares touch anything between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per day for travel to north Sikkim,” said a tourism stakeholder.
The fluctuations in the prices also mean many travel agents are unwilling to push for Sikkim before visitors.
“The travel agents are not sure about the rates if the footfall suddenly surges,” said a hotelier who has properties both in Sikkim and Darjeeling.
The Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TASS), however, denied the charges but admitted that there were many instances of drivers overcharging tourists during the peak season.
“This is the lean season for tourism and the footfall is normally low. It will go up in the intervening week of Christmas and New Year,” said Sonam Norgay Lachungpa, the president of TASS.
Lachungpa also denied that exorbitant fares charged for travel, particularly to tourist hotspots like Tsomgo (Changu) Lake in east Sikkim and Lachen and Lachung in north Sikkim, was the reason for the drop in the arrival of tourists.
The TASS president, however, admitted that therewere many instances of drivers overcharging tourists during the peak season and the problem needed to be dealt with.
Additional reporting by Rajeev Ravidas in Siliguri
