Puducherry's tourism sector hit badly by demonetisation move

Puducherry: The demonetisation drive has taken a huge toll on the tourism sector in Puducherry, especially hotels, restaurants, small vendors and bike rental shops, which depend heavily on tourists.

Hotels are not getting adequate visitors during what is considered the peak tourist season ever since demonetisation was announced.

Many tourists have now changed their plans due to shortage of currency. Hotel owners complained that business has dropped drastically as the number of tourists has been declined and many who have booked rooms have cancelled it.

“The tourism sector in Puducherry may be the worst affected among others, as the decision to demonetise the high denomination currencies came in during the peak of tourism season,” said Shenbaga Rajan, President of Chamber of Commerce here.

Mr Rajan, who owns three star hotels in the city, said hotel bookings have declined in the last two weeks. “About 80 per cent of rooms should have been occupied by this time, but in most hotels in Puducherry, only 10 or 15 per cent rooms are occupied. Not everybody who comes to the restaurant are having debit or credit cards even though we have the facility,” he told Deccan Chronicle.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Director of Puducherry Tourism, R. Mounisamy said that tourism sector is slowly gaining momentum from the initial setback. “Foreign tourists are worst affected by this move and some banks have opened special foreign exchange counters mitigating their difficulty. Though inflow of foreign tourists has come down, tourists from nearby states who normally come here for a day’s visit are continuing with their trips,” he said.