Darjeeling News: Hills ‘almost full’ for Christmas- Bookings in Darjeeling hotels double after ‘peace’ pact

Darjeeling, Dec. 23,TT: Bookings in Darjeeling hotels have doubled this year for the Christmas-New Year calendar.

The hotels are “almost full” and the hills are expecting nearly 30,000 tourists, twice the number that visited the region in 2010.

Credit goes to the political stability that has come with the signing of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration pact in July and to the local administration and hoteliers who have been quick to cash in on it with bashes and shows special for Christmas and New Year.

For tourists, gone are the fears of being left stranded because of a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha bandh call and holidays interrupted by protests and demonstrations. Instead, “smile, Darjeeling, smile” — a phrase coined by actress Mahima Chaudhary during the ongoing tea festival — is on the lips of locals and tourists alike.

“Peace and stability have returned to the hills and so have the tourists,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri. “There is a festive spirit in Darjeeling this year. It is good to see so many tourists in the hills.”

Sangay Tshering, the president of the Janmukti Hotel Owners’ Association, said: “The bookings at the hotels affiliated to our association are almost double than that of last year. In 2010, about 16,000 tourists visited Darjeeling in winter. This year it is almost double. The bookings in hotels indicate that there will be about 25,000 to 30,000 tourists in Darjeeling for the Christmas-New Year vacation.”

He said the projected occupancy rate in the Darjeeling hotels during this season is 70 per cent.

Tashi Pencho, owner of Hotel Seven Seventeen and a member of the association, said bookings in the top and middle-level hotels were “almost full”. “It is only the low budget hotels that have rooms to spare in Darjeeling,” Pencho said.

Ranajit Ghosh, who has come from Calcutta with his family, said: “The uncertainty of a sudden bandh has lifted from Darjeeling and we could come to the hills without any fear. There is peace and I know that the political climate here will not lead to disruption of our holidays.”

Such is the lure of Darjeeling this year that tourists have braved the bad roads and have taken a circuitous route via Rohini to reach the hills. Rohini road is dotted with craters and the black top has come off exposing the dirt beneath. The Rohini road branches off from NH55 near Simulbari tea estate, 15km from Siliguri, and joins the highway a little before Kurseong town. With Hill cart Road or NH55 closed for one-and-a half years because of landslide induced damage at two points, vehicles bound for Darjeeling and Kurseong are travelling via Rohini.

“The national highway is in a very bad shape and tourists have to take the longer and more expensive Rohini route. But despite that, so many tourists have landed up. This is very good news for Darjeeling,” a Morcha leader said.

What has stoked up the holiday spirit is the clear weather and the many attractions lined up for Christmas and New Year by the local administration and the hotels.

Mistletoes always bloom in the hills at this time and shops and hotels are ready with turkeys and stuffed goose. But this time, after a gap of five years, carol singing has been revived. And for the first time, an 8ft-tall Christmas tree will be set up at the Mall.

“The Darjeeling Christian community will sing carols at the Chowrasta tomorrow evening, while the members of the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and a Darjeeling based band Parichay will perform on Christmas Day,” said Suprina Blone, assistant director of the state’s information and cultural affairs department.

The organisers of the Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival along with the forest department are working to set up the Christmas tree at the Mall or the Chowrasta, the hill town’s famous promenade. “We are trying to get in touch with the forest officials to set up the Christmas tree near the statue of Bhanu Bhakta on Christmas Day,” said Uday Mani Pradhan, general secretary of the festival’s organising committee.

The hotels have lined up their individual events. Windamere Hotel has brought singers from Australia for Anything Goes — a special show named after a song by American composer Cole Porter. “Two artists, Danny Bourne and Hetty Kate from Australia, will be performing at the Windamere till January 1, starting from this evening,” said Elizabeth Clarke, executive director of the hotel.

The Elgin is ready with traditional Christmas fares.

“Roasted lamb and chicken with brandy sauce, plum puddings along with ham and sausages is what we have this year. We had received bookings for Christmas almost a year ago,” said Diamond Oberoi, owner of Elgin. The hotel has brought Patrick, a singer from Mauritius, for the Christmas bash.

“Bonfires are ready to keep the chill away,” said Oberoi.

For the Catholics of the hills, this year’s Xmas coincides with the golden jubilee year of the Darjeeling Diocese. “We are celebrating the golden jubilee of the Darjeeling Diocese. We are planning a grand Xmas mass at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception tomorrow. We are also organising prem bhoj in churches across the hills,” said Father Alex Gurung, spokesperson for the Diocese.