PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
The Nainital Hotels’ and Restaurants’ Association (NHRA) alleged that tourism business has declined sharply over the past five years due to police mismanagement and proliferation of illegal homestays, hotels and travel agencies in the city. While addressing a press conference here on Friday, the senior functionaries of the association said that they were frustrated over the authority’s indifference with the worsening tourist footfalls due to a spate of reasons and cited the low tourist influx during the Christmas and New Year festive season to buttress their point. They demanded a dialogue with the chief minister.
Venting his frustration, the president, NHRA, Digvijay Singh Bisht said that despite tourism being the State’s backbone, things are bleak. “ It provides livelihoods not only to those directly associated with the hotel businesses but also the taxi operators, restaurant owners, shopkeepers, guides and thousands of other tourism-related individuals. Sadly for all, tourism in the mountain areas has shrunk to just 50 per cent,” he added.
He further said that the problem is not limited to Nainital only. “A decline in tourism is being recorded in the mountain areas across the State. Things are more or less the same in Mussoorie, Dehradun and other popular tourism destinations across Garhwal region,” he said.
Bisht further said that while the government is talking about promoting tourism, the traffic plan issued by the police and social media posts like messages “Come to Nainital only after advance booking”—are deterring tourists. “As a result, hotels are staying unoccupied and business is stagnating. Things can be reversed for the better if the government and police consult with all stakeholders before implementing any traffic plan,” he said.
“There are approximately 400 registered hotels and homestays in the city while an equal number of unregistered hotels and homestays are operating. Most of these are operated by outsiders who neither pay any taxes nor follow the rules,” Bisht said.
The association also cited the poor condition of roads, high toll taxes and parking fees as major factors for the decline in tourism.
