Middle East war in Darjeeling and Sikkim, the shadow of the disaster is gradually increasing in the tourism industry!

The shadow of disaster is growing in the tourism industry of Darjeeling and Sikkim due to the shock of the Middle East war. In the volatile situation, foreign tourists have been forced to cancel their bookings. Many tourists from France, England are stuck in Dubai. They are trying to change their itinerary and return to their country. Meanwhile, due to the crisis in the fuel oil market due to the war, the prices of food items including car, hotel rent are going to increase. In that situation, the possibility that the domestic tourists will be able to visit Darjeeling or Sikkim in the summer season will gradually decrease, the northern tour operators fear.

According to the sources of tourism organizations, about 50 thousand tourists come to visit Darjeeling and Sikkim every year from different European countries. Most of them prefer to visit spring at the end of winter. Because, there is not much noise of snowfall at this time. The hills are filled with various flowers including rhododendrons. Many of those tourists went to Nepal after traveling to Sikkim and Darjeeling. The foreign tourists travel started from the first week of March. They come to India via Dubai or Singapore. But now the picture has completely changed with the sound of war in the Middle East. Some tourists from France, England, Germany left but got stuck in Dubai. They don’t want to risk it with no sign of the war stopping. Trying to cancel the booking and return to the country.

According to the sources of tourism organizations, about 50 thousand tourists come to visit Darjeeling and Sikkim every year from different European countries. Most of them prefer to visit spring at the end of winter.

Help Tourism leader Raj Basu said, “A group of 17 people reached Dubai from France through my organization and got stuck. They had hotel bookings in Sikkim, Darjeeling. All had to be cancelled.” He said, booking of foreign tourists starts from March-April for Puja period. That too has stopped. In that situation, only the domestic tourists have been relied upon. But due to rising fuel prices and unstable conditions, the number of domestic tourists will also decrease as travel costs increase, says Samrat Sanyal, president of the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.

Foreign tourist bookings start from March-April for Puja period. That too has stopped. In that situation, only the domestic tourists have been relied upon.

He said, “If fuel prices go up, air, train and car fares go up. The effect is that overall tourism package prices go up. That’s unaffordable for most of the domestic tourists.” He said that about 50,000 foreign tourists visit North Bengal and Sikkim every year. If the price of fuel increases, their expenses will also increase. Also don’t want anyone visiting in a volatile situation. That effect is already beginning to fall. But this time there was a good booking. Foreign tourists flocked in record numbers.