With cash availability in banks and ATMs still an issue, many people are actually thinking twice before they travel.
Industry sources say that as almost every other sector, travel and tourism too has been affected by demonetisation move.
For tourists, exchanging devalued notes has been difficult. P.G. Parma, a retired forest officer from Gujarat, who is on an all-India tour as part of a 45-member group, had a tough time exchanging Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes.
“Even buying a cup of tea became a big problem. Everyone in our group had money, but we haven’t been able to exchange it for smaller denominations,” he said.
Tourists have had to wait for long hours at ATMs and banks to exchange notes, he said.
“But the money exchanged for Rs. 2,000 or Rs. 2,500 is insufficient. Though we have a cook travelling with us, buying groceries is a challenge,” he added.
A group of Ayyappa devotees from Tiruvannamalai have been in a similar situation.
“We had to wait for three hours at the ATM this morning to get money. All we have is Rs. 2,000 notes. We will have to bulk buy or eat at the same restaurant to make use of these high-value notes,” said N. Ashokan, a devotee.
However, some women tourists from Karnataka said they had faced no problems as they had had brought smaller value notes from home.
Silk sales affected
In Kancheepuram, sale of silk saris has been affected despite this being the wedding season.
Most of the sale in the temple town, known for its silk industry, is in cash. People from other States who come to the town have not been in at all.
A source in the silk industry said that people were afraid to spend heavily on silk. “Those who are coming are buying only for limited amounts,” he said.
Mahendran of B. M. Silks said that shops have been witnessing only 5-10 per cent of their usual sales quantum.
“These have been due to card transactions with cash handling being minimal. Also in most cases the larger establishments are the ones that have any sales,” he said.
Most popular tourist locations in the State have recorded a significant decrease in tourist inflows.
A hotelier in Chidambaram, who also runs a travel outlet in Puducherry, said local tourism had taken a hit. “We get a lot of bookings in the weekends. But the last weekend has been bad,” he said.
As per statistics from the Horticultural Department, since November 7, there is an almost 40 per cent decrease in the number of tourists who visited the Government Rose Garden in Ooty and Sims Park in Coonoor.
However, joint director of horticulture (Nilgiris District), M Mani, said that the number of tourists visiting the parks and gardens has improved over the last couple of days.
The absence of card swiping facilities too is hitting the tourism industry.
“Travel has dipped and hotel occupancies are lower. Not all places accept cards. It is the stand-alone, small hotels that are the worst sufferers,” said T. Nataraajan, secretary, South India Hotels and Restaurants Association.
The decrease in visitors has hit the hotel industry particularly.
Ismail Khan, resident director of the Gem Park Hotel in Ooty, said that though there have been only a few cancellations this month, bookings for the month of December have come down substantially.
“We have to get our New Year’s party organised, and we have no idea what the occupancy rate in our hotel is going to be like,” Mr. Khan, who is also the Vice President of The Nilgiris Hotel and Restaurant Association said.
Travel plans cancelled
For the past seven days there has been hardly any issue of tickets, said Pawan Gupta, managing director, PK Holidays.
“We used to book about 40 to 50 tickets a day but now the bookings are down to four or five. Honeymoon couples have put off their travel plans due to the shortage of cash for even visa fees. Some have cancelled their travel plans and those who have paid advances have been asking for refunds,” he said.
Another travel agent said for those travelling domestically or even planning trips to Dubai or Singapore, this has been a setback.
(Additional reporting by Zubeda Hamid in Chennai, S. Sundar in Madurai, V. Venkatasubramanian in Kancheepuram, Rohan Premkumar from Udhagamandalam )
