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G20 Summit in Delhi brings cheer to hoteliers in Uttarakhand hill stations
Hotel and Resort Association of Nainital president Digvijay Singh Bisht said there are 335 registered hotels and resorts in Nainital and nearby areas and all are getting bookings from tourists, especially residents of Delhi
The G20 summit is bringing cheers to hoteliers in Uttarakhand with over 70% hotels and resorts have been booked in Nainital and Mussoorie so far, and hoteliers are expecting 100% booking by September 7.
The influx of tourists in the hills is due to the four-day long weekend. A holiday on the occasion of Shri Krishna Janmashtami falling on Thursday (September 7), followed by holidays in connection with the G20 summit from September 8 to 10 to facilitate the smooth conduct of the summit.
“We are expecting 100% booking or business this coming weekend as offices and education institutions in Delhi are closing for three days in connection with the G20 summit,” Hotel and Resort Association of Nainital president Digvijay Singh Bisht said.
He said that the G20 has come as a boon for hoteliers and tour operators. Tourism in the Kumaon region had been badly affected in the monsoon season due to inclement weather and landslides, said Bisht.
Bisht said there are 335 registered hotels and resorts in Nainital and nearby areas and all are getting bookings from tourists, especially residents of Delhi.
“Thanks to the G20 Summit hoteliers and tour operators are again expecting a rise in tourism. G20 Summit has come like a boon for us”, he said.
Not only Nainital, Bhimtal, Bhowal, Almora, Kausani, Ramnagar and other hill stations are also expecting good business this weekend.
Ramnagar Hotel and Resort Association president Hari Singh Maan said, “People of Delhi prefer to come to hill stations instead of staying in their homes. The government is imposing many restrictions for the next few days due to which many are considering going somewhere instead of spending time in Delhi.”
Besides this, booking of the jungle safari in the Dhela and Jhirna zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) has also been full till September 10.
Jungle safari in other zones of CTR has been suspended due to the monsoon season. Nirmala Pandey, ranger, eco-tourism in CTR also confirmed that booking of jungle safari in Dhela and Jhirna zone is full till September 10.
“Ramnagar and nearby areas have 140 hotels and resorts. Most of them are witnessing booking this weekend due to the G20 summit,” said Maan.
Tour operators and taxi unions expressed happiness saying they are expecting good business due to the tourist influx this weekend.
Nainital Taxi Union president Bharat Bhushan said taxi operators and boat operators are also hopeful to get good business this weekend after the monsoon season.
“We have information that hotels and resorts have received overwhelming bookings this weekend due to the G20 summit. We will apply the traffic system of the summer season to ensure smooth traffic in the entire Nainital district,” Pankaj Bhatt, senior superintendent of police (SSP) said.
Sanjay Agarwal, president of Mussoorie Hotel association said, “Already there is jump in occupancy percentage from bare minimum to 50% to 70% for September 8th and 10th due to holidays declared for the G20 Summit and we are looking forward to greeting the tourists with open hearts.”
The high-end luxury hotels are also witnessing lots of queries for rooms during the weekend and have geared up the arrangements to cater to the tourists on the weekend.
JP Residency Manor Hotel vice president Anil Sharma said, “Hotekls witnessed low occupancy since May and June and the past two months have also been worse for the hotels (due to monsoon) but with the G20 Summit weekend holidays in Delhi, the bookings have started trickling in and we expect that by Friday the hotel rooms will reach a near sold out stage.”
Rajat Aggarwal, president of the Mussoorie Traders Association said, “The town has gone through immense negative publicity due to the development work carried out by the government and we welcome this development as it will provide business to the trading community too.”
“We are looking forward to welcoming the tourists on the coming weekend and that can be gauged by the rise in the number of room bookings in advance in Mussoorie,” said Sandeep Sahni, president of Uttarakhand Hotel Association Mussoorie
Harnaam Singh, a tourist from Punjab who has booked rooms for a group from Patiala said, “ I have booked around 50 rooms and the hoteliers were also cooperative and provided me an additional discount which came as a pleasant surprise otherwise whenever there is rush in the town the room rents skyrocket making them out of reach of the middle-class tourist.”
Arvind Juneja, another tourist said, “We have already booked a hotel to avoid any last-minute rush in Mussoorie and hope that while leaving back to Delhi will not have to face any traffic snarls due to the heavy rush of tourists”.
Deepak Singh, a hotelier from Library Bazaar said, “We have kept Rs.30,00 as the maximum tariff for rooms for the weekend and have already sent the invitational messages to our permanent clients to take advantage of the discounts and reach the town early in the morning to avoid any traffic jam like situation.”
The administration and police department in Mussoorie have also geared up to ensure smooth traffic movement so that tourists do not have to face any inconvenience.
Bisht police station in-charge Shankar Singh said, “Currently the situation is normal with only a few tourists in the town but we have begun our preparations for the expected weekend tourist rush due to the G20 Summit holidays and begun the preparation as per the requirement and are also ready to increase the number of police personnel in case of heavy tourist rush in the town.”
The G20 Summit, scheduled for this weekend in the national capital, is a highly anticipated event. The summit will be held at the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex, also known as Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.
