Sikkim expects heavy loss in tourism business due to Darjeeling crisis

The political turmoil that is currently going in northern West Bengal has very badly influenced the business of the festive season tourism of adjoining state of Sikkim. Though the movement is in its declining phase now, the damage already done is not likely to get reversed for the himalayan state that has a very high dependency on the tourism industry.

As per PD Rai, a MP from the state, the situation definitely needs to be considered seriously as the state has witnessed very high number of booking cancellations off late. According to T Roy, the Secretary of the Eastern Himalayan Tour and Travel Operators Association, Darjeeling has witnessed over 82% cancellations after the eruption of the political turmoil. This happened in the first week of August, which is the peak booking period for festive season. As per a veteran tour operator and tourism advisor to Government of Sikkim Mr. Basu, nearly 70% of travellers, coming to this region, prefer visiting Sikkim and Darjeeling. So, cancellations at any side cause huge business loss for both the sides. Off late, UK and USA have issued a refreshed travel alert, which advises all their citizens to avoid traveling in Darjeeling region. This has also created a serious impact for the entire region including Sikkim.

As far as the tourism industry is considered, Sikkim contributes about 40% of annual travel business volume of more than Rs 400 crore of this region. Sikkim is a tourist hotspot in the region, with about 82% of its area under forest cover, around 3% under Glaciers and around 14% under round the year snow cover. In addition to that, Sikkim also has a hilly terrain ranging from 1000 ft to 28,000ft altitude above mean sea level.

According to Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, Sikkim’s high dependency on tourism revenue makes the state keen on utilizing this potential without jeopardizing the rich biodiversity and sensitive ecology. The state ministry has already prepared a tourism mission with a target of around 10 lakh domestic tourist and about 40 thousand foreign tourists per annum by 2015 against the existing figures of 7 lakh and 20 thousand respectively.

Previous to this, the state’s tourism trade had a big jolt due to a devastating earthquake on September 18, 2011 that killed near 125 people. The state had bounced back in an excellent way with high tourism inflow in 2012. This year, the initial trend was even better. However the scenario became too gloomy now.