T-rouble has tourism industry in doldrums

Wilson Jaffrey flew all the way from Sydney to Hyderabad and was looking forward to visiting Visakhapatnam and Tirupati. Having arrived here last month, he went around the city and wanted to wind up his State tour by paying a visit to the port city and Tirupati.But all his plans went awry with Telangana and Rayalaseema regions witnessing violent protests. But Jaffrey is not alone.There are several foreigners who were forced to stay back in their hotels while some even cancelled their tours and plans to return to their respective countries.“We had planned to visit Visakhapatnam and Tirupati for making a documentary film.Last month, we came to Hyderabad and visited various places in the city. But now, when we were all set to tour Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, the travel agent was reluctant to provide transportation due to the agitations,” Jaffery, who is staying in a star hotel at Begumpet, told ‘Expresso’.According to the AP Tourism Department, atleast 50 per cent tourists and visitors cancelled their tours to Hyderabad and other parts of the State once the agitations began taking a violent turn.“It is indeed a bad time for the tourism industry as domestic and international tourists cancelled their visits in the last minute due to the agitations,” the officials said.They said the exact loss in the tourism industry would be assessed at a later stage, once the agitations die down.“Transportation has been badly affected in various regions. We temporarily closed Punnami resorts in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.The total loss is yet to be calculated,” they informed. On the other hand, a few foreign tourists, who were scheduled to tour various places from Hyderabad were forced to stay back in their hotels.Chaya Arcot, regional coordinator of Holiday Spot, a travel agency in Ameerpet said that ever since agitations started in the Telangana region, there have been no response from travel agencies abroad. “As many as 500 foreigners had booked for hotels, and transportation to various places in the State. At least 350 visitors cancelled their bookings due to the tense situation prevailing in the state,” she informed.She said that Holiday Spot assisted foreigners who came to the city before agitations broke out. “Due to the festive season, every day we received a number of calls for bookings, but presently we are not accepting any as the situation has not returned to normalcy. We just hope the ongoing agitations end soon,” she added. Wilson Jaffrey flew all the way from Sydney to Hyderabad and was looking forward to visiting Visakhapatnam and Tirupati. Having arrived here last month, he went around the city and wanted to wind up his State tour by paying a visit to the port city and Tirupati.

MOULI MAREEDU,

moulimareedu@gmail.com