123 Darjeeling: The Darjeeling Hills are already buzzing with visitors as summer tourism has made an early debut this year. Despite most schools in the plains closing only by the end of this month, tourism in the hill town is already in full swing. Local hotels and travel services are witnessing an unexpected boom. Hotel owners in Darjeeling said accommodations were almost booked from April 18. Car rental services, too, are flooded with bookings and inquiries.
According to the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents (DATA), the tourist season has started gaining momentum from March. With the season off to such a promising start, many accommodations are already fully booked through the first week of June.
"We received bookings till June 10. This year, tourists have been flocking to Darjeeling from March, making a strong start to the early summer season. Business is booming, the hotels are almost full, and we are anticipating a last-minute rush as many tourists prefer to visit Darjeeling to get respite from the sizzling heatwaves. The destination budget-friendly compared to others and does not need much planning," said Lama.
The officials of the Darjeeling Hoteliers Association (DHA) maintained that Darjeeling is drawing in crowds well before the peak season, setting the tone for a bustling summer holiday season ahead. "The occupancy level increased by 20% this year compared to last year's. We are getting good tourist footfall ahead of the summer vacation. We are getting a lot of queries this year compared to last year's. We are booked from April 18 till the first week of June. We have not received figures from other hotels and cannot exactly calculate the exact upsurge in footfall. However, this year the business so far is good," said DHA president Undup Bhutia.
Dawa Dorjee Sherpa, owner of Darjeeling Cab.com, confirmed that his fleet is already fully booked till June 10.