Bhubaneswar: With cyclone Montha moving closer to the coast, adverse weather conditions triggered by it have severely affected the movement of tourists and hotel occupancy in Odisha.
As several parts of Odisha, particularly the southern districts, are set to witness heavy to very heavy rain and stormy weather, the district administration of Ganjam has already ordered all hotels in Gopalpur to remain closed for three days and cancel all bookings.
Ganjam District Collector Keerthi Vasan issued an order instructing hotel owners and managers to cancel all visitor bookings for three days from October 27. The hotel authorities have also been asked to implement necessary precautionary measures to ensure the safety of guests, staff, and property.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Montha is expected to make a landfall near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night, triggering very heavy to extremely heavy rain in some parts of Odisha.
Sources in the hotel industry said that the cyclonic storm has hit intrastate travel, while hotel occupancy dropped from around 80% on Sunday to 50% on Monday ahead of the expected landfall of the cyclone.
While the decline was noticed among potential travellers within Odisha, hotel operators said that pre-bookings from other states have so far remained unaffected. Impact was most visible in Puri, which typically attracts about 90% of the state’s tourists.
“The number of intrastate travellers has dropped in Puri and several other tourist destinations in the state. Travellers are worried about potential disruptions due to anticipated heavy rain,” TOI quoted Raj Kishore Patra, vice-chairman of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), as saying.
The flow of interstate travellers, particularly from West Bengal, is expected to remain steady as long as train and flight services remain unaffected, said another HRAO functionary.
We have received numerous inquiries from guests with existing bookings, inquiring about the cyclone’s potential impact in Odisha. Despite cancellations of several trains until Wednesday, we don’t foresee a significant impact since the majority of domestic visitors are from West Bengal,” Kumar added.
Tourists have been advised by the authorities to avoid beaches for their safety in view of rough weather.
In Gajapati, the district administration has closed all waterfalls, Mahendragiri Hill and B N Palace to tourists from Sunday until the weather conditions improve. Police, lifeguards and fire service personnel are using public address systems to urge tourists to stay indoors. Key tourist destinations and beaches are under close surveillance to prevent any untoward incidents.
The government has asked the Puri district administration to be vigilant in ensuring the safety of elderly habisyali devotees at the Jagannath Temple.