MYSURU: Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another day, the popular rhyme sung by kids has now become the song of hoteliers worst-hit by the rain. The Mysuru- Kodagu and Wayanad regions, which sees heavy tourist footfalls on the weekends, had a large number of bookings following the extended weekend in wake of the Bakrid festival on Monday.
However, with rain continuing to leash its fury, hotel bookings in both these regions and also neighbouring Kerala have gone down to less than 20 per cent.
With pictures and videos of floods making the rounds on social media and flood alerts issued by the district administration, tourists have decided not to go ahead with their trips as many were stranded in Kodagu and Kerala last year.
Moreover, with the rain showing no signs of letting up and with all rivers flowing above the danger mark, restaurants which usually witness high traffic on weekends have seen very little business. With the start of the weekend, many prominent streets with leading hotels wore a deserted look. Chethan, the manager of a leading hotel in Mysuru, said that their occupancy was less than ten per cent following the incessant downpour. He said that this was the lowest they had in many months as many has cancelled their bookings.
Ashok, who works in a budget hotel, said that they were the worst-hit as there were no tourists from Kerala.
“We have decided to offer rooms at a cheaper price then the normal rates just to get some bookings. Even bikers who come in good numbers during the weekend have stayed away as it has been raining in Ooty and Kerala borders as well,” he added.
Meanwhile, Safari trips were also cancelled with no tourists turning up in Bandipur, Nagarhole and Dammankatte forest range. Many resorts in Bandipur and Kabini areas had minimum occupancy, and one too many phone calls inquiring about the weather conditions.
The busy Bengaluru- Mysuru highway was also hit, with less traffic than normal. Other than that, business in fuel stations were also affected.