The city wore a deserted look on Sunday due to the weekend curfew in place as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. Allbusiness establishments were closed except those in the essential category that includes shops dispensing pharmaceuticals, groceries, milk etc.
All places of tourist interest including the palace, Chamundi Hills, zoo, rail museum, etc. remained closed. The inflow of tourists which was gaining traction after the second wave ebbed, has come to a halt and has hit the tourism sector.
Hotel Owners’ Association president C. Narayana Gowda said out of 10,300 rooms in various hotels in the city, only 206 were booked and this is the lowest occupancy rate in recent years.
The hospitality and tourism sector have questioned the logic behind the weekend curfew and have pleaded for lifting it on the grounds that it was affecting daily wagers and people from economically weaker sections. Similar views have been aired by members of Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysore (FOAM) which called upon the Government to rescind the weekend curfew.
As a result of the weekend curfew, footfall in railway stations declined compared to the weekdays as not many are travelling. Both outbound and inward passenger movement at Mysuru airport too has registered a dip.
