Ooty: Cherry blossom has begun to add color and charm to the hills here and heralds the onset of the autumn tourist season , popularly known as the second season of Ooty. The dawn of September has brought hopes of good tidings to the travel and tourism sector here.
The bloom of the pink cherry flowers in clusters on the tree tops signifies the hills looking forward to busy tourism activities from this extended weekend due to the Ganesh Chathurthi holiday that coincided with the arrival of the autumn tourist season that generally runs between September and the first week of November.
Dr. S.Rajan, field botanist at the Cental Ayush wing here said that the cherry tree variety found in the Nilgiris is an ornamental one and is not a fruit bearing variety.
This particular tree species grow well in the upper reaches of the Nilgiris.
Meanwhile, the hospitality industry here is looking forward to a surge in tourism from now onward after a relatively low ebb tourism in the hills after the end of the summer season in May.
While the heavy rains in early August this year played spoil-sport with tourism during the Independence Day weekend, the good influx of tourists for the Ganesh Chathurthi weekend is a good sign.
