Is tourism showing signs of revival in Mysuru?
If the COVID-19 situation continues to remain stable like now and there is no threat of a third wave, the recovery can be expected by the year-end, the stakeholders hope.
The hotel occupancy earlier was in bad shape in Mysuru. However, with the situation returning to near normal, the hotels have seen rise in occupancy which has crossed 50-60 per cent during weekends.
“I can say the revival has commenced but we have a long way to go for reaching the statistics of pre-pandemic days. Hotels and restaurants are seeing business. This is a good sign. The economy cannot revive fully unless tourism recovers fully,” said Hotel Owners’ Association President C. Narayana Gowda.
The occupancy during weekdays was around 25-30 per cent.
Mr. Gowda said the stakeholders had urged the government to consider holding the Dasara events taking all necessary precautions. There is a difference between the pandemic situation last year and this year. The procession could have been conducted as usual as it could have helped the tourism economy, he felt.
Tourists from Kerala are few but nearly 10-15 per cent of visitors are from Andhra Pradesh/Telangana and Tamil Nadu, he said.
Mr. Gowda feels hotel bookings for Dasara season may start from the first week of October. He, however, expressed doubt over group bookings with no major Dasara events, and the Jamboo Savari confined to the palace premises for a limited audience.