It's a quiet holiday season in beaches & hills

With less than a week to go for Christmas, it’s rather quiet at typical holiday destinations such as Manali and Goa. Business Standard checked out the popular beaches in Goa and hilltops in Manali, only to find tourism is down significantly at a time when it should be at its peak. Demonetisation is restricting travel of both Indian and overseas tourists. 

A Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) official in Manali refused to reveal data on the inflow of tourists since November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. “There is no drop in the number of tourists coming to Manali,” he claimed.

However, on the mall road, the hub of activity in any hill station, cash crunch had its imprint all across. The daily earnings of the shops had been hit, as inflow of tourists was down at least 60%, compared to the same time last year, estimates suggested. The charming streets of Old Manali, usually crowded with tourists, wore a deserted look too, with the only attractive destinations being banks, automated teller machines (ATMs) where queues got longer with every passing minute. 

Due to a fairly good ATM ratio in Goa, lines are not lengthy. According to data from Reserve Bank of India, banks added 1,021 new ATMs in the June quarter alone. But the problem lies elsewhere. “There is simply no currency of small denominations in the ATMs. Nobody wants to give a change for a Rs 2,000-note on a small transaction,” said David from Moscow, who chose Goa as his year-end destination. Russians form a lion’s share of Goa’s inbound tourists. According to statistics tabled in the Goa Assembly, between October 2015 and May 2016, 106,754 Russians visited Goa.

Business is slow in Goa, at the shops and restaurants in beaches or elsewhere. “Tour operators overseas have warned travellers about the currency crisis in India,” explained a restaurant owner near the popular Anjuna beach.

At a shack near Arambol beach in North Goa, Pedro displayed his bank account number to customers, saying electronic payment facility was available there. But cash works like nothing else at a place like this. 

Multiple shack owners in Goa, this newspaper spoke to, said digital payment was not feasible, as their shops were not legal establishments. “We accept cash; making it digital increases the expenses. You have to pay taxes and surcharges,” said one of the owners.

At Manali, the peak season for hoteliers is between December 15-31 and April 15-July 15. According to the Manali Hoteliers Association, hotels are offering discounts to grab a greater tourist share. Manali hosts 572 registered hotels and homestays and 250 non-registered places, making hospitality industry the backbone of the hill-area economy. A place which gets more than 1,15,000 foreign tourists every year, foreigners could not be spotted in the past few days, as they are focusing more on bigger cities where using plastic money and digital mode of payment was simpler.

Last November-December, the occupancy rate of hotels was around 80-85% in Manali. It’s down to around 30-40% this year, after demonetisation. “Though hotels have online booking facilities, people are hesitant to come, as they have to spend money outside for food, sightseeing and shopping,” said Gajender Thakur, president of Manali Hoteliers Association. 

“Our business has gone down by at least 20-30%, compared to the same time last year,” said Sudershan Bhatt, secretary-general of Vyapar Mandal, a body of shopowners and traders in the tourist destination.

But there’s another voice too, saying all is well. Bhupesh Negi, director of the Dabolim International Airport, Goa, said demonetisation had no impact on the movement of tourist charters. “We are seeing a positive growth in the number of charters.”