It’s half past noon on October 2, and a family of four has just walked into a small cafe on Mall Road in the heart of the tiny hill town of Kasauli.
Navneet Sahu, who runs the little eatery, is elated to see customers again, even as he is concerned that his joy would be short-lived and limited to the ‘extended weekend’ that has brought a sizeable rush of tourists to the Queen of the Hills.
“Tourists have started to visit after travel restrictions were eased recently. But it’s nothing compared to the numbers before the COVID-19 outbreak. Since March end, the business has come to a standstill,” said Mr. Sahu, who busy preparing the food order for his customers, with just one helper.
The hospitality industry in Himachal Pradesh has been severely affected due to the pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions. The State government allowed unrestricted entry into the State from mid-September, which has come as a big relief.
Focus on breaking even
The hoteliers, however, said that right now they are focusing on merely breaking even. Other sections of the industry, including taxi drivers, tourist guides, dhabas and small restaurants are pinning their hopes on a revival of the hotels.
“It will take sometime to get things back to normal. So far there have only been ‘walk-in’ tourists. At this time of the year we usually had good number of tourists from West Bengal during the Dushera-Durga Puja holidays. But this year, there have been no advance bookings,” said U. Sharma of Ros Common, a Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation hotel.
Sharing his concerns, Deepak Sharma, who runs a dhaba on the Kasauli-Dharmpur road, said the though the weekend business had resumed, the overall sales were well below the pre-COVID period. Lack of workers has also impacted the industry, with many having returned to their homes during the extended lockdown.
Vice-president of the Kasauli Hotels and Resident Welfare Association Rocky Chimni said the State government has allowed hotels to open from mid-September, and since then most of the hotels have reopened in the town and surrounding area. “Tourists have started visiting over weekends and weekdays as well and more are coming from Delhi and Punjab. The corporate business has taken a hit as conferences etc., are not taking place. We are hoping that we will be close to break-even point as the number of tourists increase. In comparison to the same period last year the hotels in Kasauli are having 40% less occupancy,” he said.
