BHUBANESWAR: The state tourism industry, which has been in doldrums since last year due to the Covid pandemic, has seen a revival, with most hotels seeing impressive visitor numbers.
A decline in Covid infections, coupled with the easing of restrictions, has brought tourists back to their favorite destinations. Most of the hotels in Puri and Bhubaneswar, which saw around 20-30% occupancy in September, which is usually considered the lean tourist season, are now seeing a 60% increase in guest occupancy.
“Tourism has recovered much faster than expected. Corporate customers have also increased. At the Swosti Hotel in Chilika, occupancy is almost 100% on weekends and 60% on other days. The situation is similar in Bhubaneswar. We have been inundated with emails and inquiries from tourists planning to visit the state in the coming days, ”said JK Mohanty, chairman of the Odisha Hotel and Restaurant Association (HRAO).
“The hotels in Puri are full. We had never seen a 60% occupancy rate in hotels in September. It’s a positive sign for the volatile tourism industry. Depressed after staying inside during the lockdown, people travel to Puri from different districts of the state and neighboring countries West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand with all might ” Debasis Kumar, Vice President of Hotel Association of Puri, called. He added that the number of tourists in Puri increased after the Jagannath Temple reopened on August 23 for everyone.
“We asked hoteliers and restaurateurs to strictly adhere to the Covid security protocols and to make their guests aware of behavior that is compatible with Covid. Cleanliness and hygiene should be maintained in all of these places, ”said a tourism official.
The arrival of foreign tourists to Odisha had decreased by over 99% and that of domestic tourists by 84% over the period 2020-21. The total decline in tourist numbers (domestic and foreign nationals combined) was 84.29% in the last financial year compared to 2019-20.
A total of 652 foreign tourists visited the state in 2020-21, up from 1,00,567 in 2019-20. While 1.50.35.593 domestic visitors came to Odisha in the years 2019-20, the number of visitors fell to only 23.76.523 in the last financial year. Overall, only 23.77,175 tourists (both domestic and foreign) visited the state in 2020-21, compared with 1.51.36,160 visitors in 2019-20, a report said.
The state’s vibrant tourism industry has been experiencing a collapse in assets since 2019, the year Cyclone Fani battered Puri and Bhubaneswar.