Mysuru: There has been a 60 per cent drop in inflow of tourists to this historic city due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) scare.
Occupancy at hotels in Mysuru is down to just 25 percent, according to C Narayanagowda, member of the Mysuru Hotel Owners Association.
According to the Mysuru Palace Board, the number of tourists coming to the Mysuru Palace fell by 61 percent in February over January.
With one Bengaluru-based person testing coronavirus positive in Hyderabad and three such cases being reported previously from Kerala and one from New Delhi, Mysuru and its border districts Chamarajnagar, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Raichur, Kalaburgi and Bidar are under Covid-19 surveillance, according to health commissioner Pankaj Pandey.
Forty percent of tourists coming to this heritage city are from other states.
According to Dr Shashidhar, the Mysuru district surveillance officer, screening of people is being done at bus stops, railway stations and the airport.
Tourism stakeholders and even the general public have been asked to report tourists with possible symptoms or those who have returned from coronavirus-affected countries in the last 14 days.
Such returnees have to be under isolation for 28 days, and avoid close physical contact with even family members, especially children, he said.
If such returnees have to travel to other places, they have to inform the health officials and take their permission.
