14 days quarantine norms continuing into Unlock 5.0, hitting festive travel: Jharkhand!

With the state government’s mandatory 14-day quarantine norms for all those arriving in Jharkhand from outside the state continuing into Unlock 5.0, the coronavirus pandemic has thrown the travel industry in Jharkhand into a tailspin.

In a normal year, hundreds of tourists from across West Bengal soak in the flora and fauna of the Betla National Park and Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) as parks reopen after the customary closure during monsoon months. But this season is like no other seen in the past.

The loss of tourists from the neighbouring state is having a heavy impact on the top destinations. One of the most sought after properties during Durga Puja, Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation’s (JTDC) Hotel Van Vihar in Betla is staring at losses as the compulsory quarantine period has put off tourists from neighbouring states from visiting the forest popularized by several Bengali films.

Talking to TOI, Van Vihar manager Kunal Rajak said, “Nearly 90% of our guests at this time of the year used to belong to West Bengal, but with the 14-day home quarantine mandatory, we are not taking any bookings for our rooms yet. The hotel has 23 operational rooms and most are lying vacant. Even people from Jharkhand are not visiting as Betla and PTR awaits government orders to reopen for leisure visits.”

About 95km from Betla, JTDC’s Prabhat Vihar hotel in Netarhat Hills is witnessing lukewarm business. “Of the 50 rooms we have, nearly 40% are booked for the Durga Puja days. All the guests are from Jharkhand as we are not accepting bookings from outsiders,” Arun Kumar Singh, senior manager at the hotel, said. JTDC’s hotels in Patratu and Deoghar are also staring at dull business this festive season.

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Besides JTDC-run hotels, private hotels in Ranchi are also staring at huge revenue losses. “During Durga Puja, Ranchi’s hotels do not get corporate guests as offices here and in neighboring states are closed. It is primarily the tourists who visit Ranchi for a stopover in their journey to Betla, Netarhat, and other places,” Kaushik Gupta, manager of Landmark Hotel in Lalpur, said.

Gupta added, “Usually, the tourists stay in Ranchi for a couple of days for seeing local sights like Patratu Valley and Hundru, Jonha and Dassam falls before moving on to other parts of the state. But with most trains not running, it is unlikely that there will be any tourists here this Puja season.

Like hoteliers, companies “that rent out vehicles are also facing an existential crisis. “Usually, outstation tourists hire vehicles for several days at a stretch. But this time, railway services are stalled along with inter-state bus service.

Tourists are not coming and the locals, who are traveling to Netarhat and other places for the weekends, are using their personal cars,” Surender Singh, a city-based cab agency owner, said.

News Courtesy: ET