Guwahati: The tourism sector in Assam has been severely hit by violent protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the loss is an estimated at Rs 1,000 crore, a top official said Tuesday.
The sector was badly impacted in December and will also be in January, two of the peak months for tourist inflow, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) chairman Jayanta Malla Baruah said here.
The peak tourist season in Assam is from December to March and accounts for 48 per cent of the sector’s contribution for the entire year, he said.
“Due to the violent protests during December, we suffered badly. We estimate that Rs 500 crore will be the loss to the sector for December and January each,” Baruah told a press conference here.
The hotel industry alone suffered a loss of Rs 60 crore in 15 days since December 11, when violence erupted across Assam against the CAA.
Along with domestic tourists, the flow from abroad also took a hit after a number of countries issued travel advisories due to the ongoing protests, Baruah said.
The earnings of the state from the tourism sector varies between Rs 2,000-2,500 crore per annum.
“Because of the impact on the peak season, we expect 30 per cent fall in tourist footfall in 2019-20. We hope to slightly recover from this situation in February,” informed Baruah.
“Peaceful democratic agitations do not affect much, but violence impacts very hard. This year we had expected around 65 lakh domestic and 50,000 foreign tourists to Assam. But already 80 per cent of the bookings for December and January are cancelled,” the ATDC chairman added.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) also said Tuesday it has incurred a loss of over Rs 100 crore till December 30 due to the ongoing protests against the CAA.
NFR chief public relations officer Subhanan Chanda said the impact started from December 9 in the areas within the jurisdiction of NFR.
The NFR incurred losses not only due to damages caused to railway properties by the protestors, but also due to cancellation of passenger trains and goods carrying trains to and from the zone to other zones, Chanda said.
Agencies
