Suffers loss of about Rs 600 crore
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, July 22: The tourism industry of Ladakh, which is considered as a major growth engine of the UT, has been worst hit this year due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic as industry suffered a huge loss of Rs 600 crores in the absence of any tourism related activity.
Hotels are closed, markets deserted and taxis are off the roads in Ladakh as due to fear of COVID-19 and several restrictions imposed throughout the country on travel, tourists chose not to travel. Thousands of people associated with the industry— from hoteliers to taxi drivers, guides and hawkers at tourist spots are facing an existential crisis.
“This year there are no tourists at all. Last year, there was a good number of tourists but this time you can see markets are deserted and we taxi drivers are sitting idle at taxi stand since morning, waiting for sporadic tourists,” said Tsering Angchuk, a taxi driver at Leh.
He said they come at Taxi stand daily with the hope of getting any tourist but return disappointed in the evening. “In tourist season, one can hardly find a taxi at taxi stand but this year the picture is different due to COVID-19 pandemic which has spread globally,” he added and expressed hope of receiving tourist in October due to probable improvement in COVID-19 situation.
Sonam Stobdan, a hotelier said that he has been running a 22-room hotel in Nubra since 2007 and in tourist season, all rooms of his hotel remain booked but this year his hotel is locked as there are no tourists at all. “Last year, it was a very good tourist season but this year like every sector, tourism sector has been hardly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hotels are closed since the tourist season started,” he added.
“We in Leh mostly receive foreign tourists but several countries have not still opened their air travel due to the pandemic and as a result, there are only sporadic tourists. This is the worst ever tourist season for the hoteliers in Ladakh and in coming months also, there is no hope of arrival of tourists,” the hotelier said.
Talking about footfall in tourism industry of Ladakh, Tsetan Angchuk, president of All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA) said, Global outbreak of COVID-19 has badly hit the tourism industry. He said this year tourism industry of Ladakh suffered a loss of about Rs 600 crore, which they used to raise every year from tourism related activities.
“In Ladakh, we have very short season of tourism. Last year, approximately 3.20 lakh tourists visited Ladakh (both in Summer and Winter seasons) but if we talk of this year, only 100-150 tourists visited Ladakh till date while following the guidelines issued by the UT administration,” he added.
The ALTOA president said that in a recent Google survey that was done on around 2000 people with the cooperation of ALTOA and Ladakh Tourism Department, about 30-40 percent people expressed that they want to travel Ladakh but later in the year with the hope that COVID-19 situation will improve by that time.
“Thus, if we go by this survey, tourist activities may increase by September as also the COVID-19 cases are going down in the UT,” Angchuk said.
When contacted, Assistant Director Tourism Department Ladakh, Jigmet Namgyal said UT authorities have not imposed any restrictions on arrival of tourists but there are some guidelines issued by the UT administration, which the tourists have to follow and some tourists are coming while following the guidelines.
“Not only in Ladakh but globally tourism industry has been worst hit by the pandemic. But, we as a new UT are taking this footfall in tourists as an opportunity to enhance skill of all those associated with tourism industry so that we can provide best services to tourists in next season,” Namgyal added.
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