Nainital: This time the New Year celebration in the lake city of Nainital of Uttarakhand is going to be more grand than before. By the third week of December itself, more than 60 percent of the hotels have been booked, while the booking of the remaining rooms is continuously gaining momentum. According to hoteliers, this time the influx of tourists in the city for Christmas and Thirty First celebrations has increased significantly compared to last year. The rush of vehicles on the city roads, the hustle and bustle on the Mall Road and the increasing brightness in the markets clearly indicate that the tourism season is going to be very strong this time.
Digvijay Singh Bisht, President of Nainital Hotel Association, says that the last week of December is always full of expectations for the hotel business. The time between Christmas and New Year is more profitable for tourism businessmen than the rest of the year. He told that till now about 50 to 60 percent booking has been done, and the pace of tourism is expected to increase further from December 22.
Winter carnival will be organized
After a long gap, Winter Carnival is being organized once again in Nainital. There is a lot of excitement in the city about this carnival returning after the year 2018. This event, which will run from December 22 to December 26, will include many activities like cultural programs, glimpse of local art and culture, traditional music, folk dance and food festival. Mall Road will be decorated with attractive lights, while colorful programs will be organized at DSA Ground in Mallital, in which performances of Bollywood artists can also be seen. People associated with the tourism business believe that this event will give new energy to the tourism activities of Nainital and will provide an opportunity to the tourists to get acquainted with the hill culture.
There will be crowd in hotels again
Hotelier Digvijay Singh Bisht said that the last four months have been very challenging in terms of tourism. Due to communal tension, continuous rains from July to October, landslides and uncertainty of weather, there was a huge decline in the number of tourists in Nainital. The occupancy in many hotels went below 20 percent, due to which businessmen had to suffer huge losses. However, the situation is improving from the third week of December. Hotel bookings are increasing and the movement of tourists in the city has also increased. There is a possibility of huge crowd on the weekend coming after Christmas and on 30-31 December, in view of which hotels, restaurants and travel agencies have started preparations.
Tourists fleeing hilly areas
The ever-increasing air pollution in the plains has also inspired tourists to move towards hilly areas. In many big cities including Delhi-NCR, AQI has reached the severe category, while the air in Nainital and surrounding areas is clean and fresh. For this reason, a large number of people are planning to celebrate the New Year with their families in the mountains, due to which the footfall of tourists in Nainital is continuously increasing.
Special package for New Year
There has been no news of any major increase in hotel tariffs during the New Year week. Budget hotels are available in the starting range of around Rs 1500, while larger hotels have offered special packages for Christmas and New Year. The hotel association and administration have made it clear that overpricing will not be allowed. Tourism businessmen believe that between December 22 and January 1, the biggest footfall of this season can be seen in Nainital. In such a situation, it would be better for the tourists who are planning to celebrate 31st December and New Year in Nainital, to do advance booking.
