Click to play videoJaipur: In Rajasthan the tourism industry seems to be paying the price for the Gujjar agitation. The blocking of rail and road traffic has left tourists refusing or unable to arrive in the dessert.
The much-awaited Christmas-New Year trip to the Golden triangle of Delhi Agra and Jaipur became a nightmare for tourists. And those who did manage to visit these places have horror stories to tell.
"We had to take a long detour. The five hour journey became twelve hour and we had to stop at a random place and check into a hotel. It was scary and disappointing," said Natalie, a tourist.
Rajasthan, one of the top tourist destinations in the country especially in the winters, was hoping for a peak tourist season - a much needed one too after business was hit by swine flu, recession and terror threats. But now the Gujjar agitation has played the spoilsport by blocking key rail and road routes. For tour operators, the timing couldn't have been worse.
"With 40 to 45 per cent bookings already canceled…they (tour operators) are hoping against the hope that there would be a breakthrough between the Gujjars and the government before the New Year Eve," said Nikhil Pandit, a tour consultant in Jaipur.
In this state where tourism is the backbone of its economy the
Gujjars call for extending their protests to the national capital region from December 29 could even paralyse the road link between Jaipur and Delhi. For Rajasthan, where tourism is the backbone of the economy, the further extension of the protest area is now threatening to be the proverbial last nail in the coffin for tourism's peak season.
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