Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Mumbai attacks send shivers down the spine of Ooty hoteliers

Photo: D. Radhakrishnan

Fall in numbers: A group of foreign tourists taking instructions from their tour conductor on Botanical Garden Road in Udhagamandalam on Monday. —

UDHAGAMANDALAM: What impact the terror attack in Mumbai will have on this tourism-dependent hill station? This question is doing the rounds for the past couple of days at Udhagamandalam, which has for long been popular not only among domestic tourists but also foreigners. Hoteliers are bracing up for a sharp fall in the flow of foreigners this winter.

Normally, about 10,000 tourists from Europe visit Udhagamandalam during the winter, says N. Chandrashekar, secretary of the Nilgiri Hotels and Restaurants Association. In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, group bookings are being cancelled, he says. “Adding to our woes, even the number of domestic tourists has been below normal during the second season.” He hopes things will look up at least during the summer of 2009.

Foreigners account for 15 per cent of the annual turnover of a hotel run by Murali Khemchand. Nearly all of them visit between December and March. The bookings usually begin around the middle of December. “This year I am keeping my fingers crossed.”

Given that the Mumbai attacks are now the talk of the globe, I will be surprised if I do even a portion of my usual business during this winter and spring,” he says.

Travel agents are also apprehensive of the prospects of their business.

At an interaction between hoteliers and the police here on Sunday, security steps that needed to be taken in hotels and restaurants were discussed. While the police gave a list of dos and don’ts and asked the hoteliers to install metal detectors, the hoteliers underscored the need for a group of well-trained security personnel who could respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

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