SHILLONG: One of the most sought after destinations in the state — Sohra (Cherrapunjee) now wears a desolate look. All tourist spots have been sealed by the respective Shnongs following government directives. The hundreds of home-stays are now empty and their owners reeling under a severe cash crunch. The much sought after Hotel Polo Orchid, Cherrapunjee was bolted. So too Jiva Resort.
Last year at this time all of these hotels and home-stays were bustling with visitors. The roadside dhabas (eating joints) ran brisk businesses; so too the small tea and snacks shops that dot the Sohra landscape. Today all of them are shut and their owners who eke out a livelihood from these micro, small and medium enterprises find themselves incapable of sustaining their businesses if the situation does not change soon.
This correspondent spoke to some of the home-stay owners to find out if they have a survival kit to tide over the crisis. They were all of one opinion — that COVID has eaten up whatever savings they have and very soon they will be in penury.
“Earlier we had 15-20 staff members but now we have had to cut down the staff strength to 5-6 because Sohra is damp so there is need to constantly heat up the rooms and air them. We have had to pay reduced salaries to the few staff that we have retained but for how long?”
None of the home-stay owners wanted their names to be mentioned but they all expressed the hardships they faced. In fact this correspondent found quite a few of the home-stays cum restaurants being washed and cleaned. One home-stay owner said that his friends have been telling him to think of some other business but since he has been in the tourism business for a long time, he feels incompetent to take up other businesses like government contract works.
On Wednesday, after the government announced that restaurants would have to close on Saturdays and Sundays it has killed whatever hopes they had of catering to people from Shillong or other districts who might wish to visit Sohra in the weekends.
Many of the home-stay owners are first generation entrepreneurs and nearly all of them have taken bank loans to start or augment their businesses. A home-stay owner said, “I learnt from my friends in Rajasthan and elsewhere that the banks have given them soft loans with a grace period of 12 months to repay their loans and with reduced interest rates. Here we are getting calls from banks saying that the March-June grace period is over so we will not have to repay the loans regularly. But how do we do that without any income? And if we don’t repay we will be blacklisted by RBI. So we are left with no options?”
Another home-stay owner said he has been getting phone calls from the government asking if he needs a small loan to tide over the crisis. “Small loans with a reduced rate of interest and a longer repayment period would help he said but the banks are not conveying anything to us. In fact there are no clear directives from any quarters. We just keep waiting for news over WhatsApp,” he said.
Home-stay owners say that from May to July they have an occupancy rate of 90-100%, between August and September it dips to 50-60%. In January- February the occupancy rate is 60-70% while from October-December its 100%.
As far as day visitors are concerned there are about 100-150 cars a day which means about 1000- 1500 visitors daily to the tourist spots which are now all sealed.
The tourism entrepreneurs said that Sohra is not a place where we can take up agriculture so tourism is our only subsistence. All of them were of the view that the government now has to come up with a smart and robust Tourism policy.
) Tourism will have to open up sooner than later and while we can stop day tourists from nearby states from crowding the tourist spots, we will have to open up to genuine tourists who will respect all protocols but who will also not be put to unnecessary delays for clearances. “All who want to come to Sohra must necessarily stay at least for two days if not longer. Their documents and medical clearances can be checked and verified. Many tourists want to come here to relax and get out of the pessimism that COVID has induced,” an entrepreneur opined.
When asked if the different Dorbar Shnong would allow tourism to resume soon, the home-stay owners all said, “If tourism is not allowed to restart then the Dorbar Shnong must provide us alternative livelihoods otherwise we will all die from acute poverty before COVID gets us.”
