Wayanad sees tourist rush

KOZHIKODE: Resorts are full, hotels see heavy rush for hours, thattukadas struggle to cater to a long queue of customers, parking bays of hotels are packed with cars, traffic jams along the highway and tourist spots bustling, Wayanad is witnessing unprecedented rush this Pooja holidays. Many attribute the rush to ‘Cauvery phobia’ which prompted tourists from Bangalore in Karnataka to evade Ooty, the most endearing tourism spot, due to safety reasons.

The traffic was high on the Bangalore- Mysore highway and the jungle route to Wayanad through Gundlupet on Saturday itself. Due to traffic jam, many tourist vehicles failed to reach the forest check post before the deadline for closure of the road at 9 pm. The night traffic through the route remains banned for the last eight years. KR Rajeev, a tourist with family from Bangalore who opted to visit Wayanad or the Puja holidays, told DC that the traffic flow on the Wayanad route was the highest he ever witnessed in the past.

“Though I started in the afternoon, I reached the resort in Wayanad by 12.30 after midnight,” he said. “Many of us took the circuitous route to Mananthavady through Kutta as we failed to reach the check post before 9 pm. As we planned the trip last minute, we failed to get a good boarding facility for the second day. We had to return to Bangalore by Sunday evening.”

Almost all high-end resorts in Wayanad are full up to Wednesday.  Wayanad Tourism Organization spokesperson Raveendran Pranavam told DC that it would be tough to get room to stay in the district for the last minute visitors who come without prior planning. “All our resorts and homestays are full, and we are struggling to arrange rooms for those who call desperately at the last minute,” he added.

However, all the tourism spots of the district have witnessed heavy rush on Sunday. According District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) the visitors and revenue earned at the three prominent destinations are:  Edakkal Caves 6,604 visitors (Rs 1,33,070), Kanthanpara 1,600 ('40,000) and Pookode 9,669 ('2,18,350). DTPC manager C.R. Hariharan told DC that the rush is expected to increase in the coming days.