By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 13: The flood situation in Assam and the “volatile” situation in Shillong and elsewhere in the state is taking a toll on the tourism industry in the state with hotels reporting a significant dip in occupancy despite June-July being traditionally regarded as the peak season for tourists coming to Meghalaya.
Hoteliers based in Shillong said that July is usually the peak season in Meghalaya with 90-100 per cent occupancy but due to the floods in Assam, the occupancy was hovering at around 50 per cent.
The tourist inflow took a further hit following the recent violent incidents in the city and the occupancy has dropped to 30 per cent due to cancellation of bookings, they said.
People engaged in the tourism sector said the flow of tourists was low in view of rumours going around about landslides hitting several parts of the state.
They said that the tourist inflow took a big hit after the KSU set up an ILP check gate on the Guwahati-Shillong highway in Ri-Bhoi to check the documents of tourists and several visitors without proper documents were pushed back.
It was informed that the news about pressure groups assaulting labourers in the city have spread far and wide after which there was an increase in cancellation of confirmed bookings.
However, things improved on Saturday with a significant number of tourists from Assam and other states coming to the city, the hoteliers said.