Demonetisation hits backpacker’s paradise
NEW DELHI: It is a bright, balmy December afternoon and most shopkeepers in Paharganj -- a busy tourist hub in central Delhi with rows of budget hotels — are sitting outside their shops, sunbathing. The streets are unusually quiet in this otherwise chaotic and cacophonic place crowded with tourists at this time of the year. Most tawdry tourist establishments of this backpackers’ paradise — money changers, courier companies, rooftop restaurants, tour operators — are empty, their owners sitting idle.
PV Sarkar, who runs a handcrafted jewellery shop, is fiddling with his mobile outside, not bothered about a few people inside his shop.
“These are new kinds of tourists we have; they come to the New Delhi station to pick up friends and family members. They are here to spend time as these days trains are arriving late due to fog,” says Sarkar. “Demonetisation has driven out real tourists. Since morning, I have only sold a ₹30-earring. My daily sales used to be ₹7,000, and now it is just ₹700,” says Sarkar, his voice laced with anger and frustration.
Paharganj, which has half of Delhi’s 1,500 budget hotels, and whose entire economy depends on foreign tourists, is witnessing a slump like never before. Hoteliers and shopkeepers here blame it on demonetisation. The occupancy rate at hotels here is 40% in December, the peak tourist season. The money changers here complain of lack of cash and the shutters are half down at most ATMs. It is difficult to spot foreign tourists, and the omnipresent touts offering hotels deals too have deserted the place.
Prashant Kapur, who sells handicrafts, has been watching movies on his mobile since morning. The shelves of his shop are filled with metallic Buddha statues, stone sculptures, puppets and an assortment of other handicrafts. It’s dark inside as most of the tube-lights are switched off. Kapur’s mood is hardly any brighter. “My business is down by 70% as there are no tourists right now. The few tourists who are here do not have enough cash; it is hard to find an ATM here that dispenses cash,” he says.
Sanjeev Baluja, who runs LTC Travel, is sitting inside his office, his legs resting on another chair pulled in front of him. The office has almost half-a-dozen workstations and over dozen chairs. Two of his employees are checking their Facebook accounts. A message on a glass wall welcomes visitors. ‘Go Cashless’, it says. But ask him and it becomes apparent that Baluja is delivering the message with a lot of bitterness.
“My office normally does not look like this, but then these are not normal times. Since there is no business, I have had to send half of my staff on forced leave. Most bookings from foreign tourists have been cancelled,” says Baluja. “When they came in November, they just could not exchange their currency. They faced a lot of harassment and were cheated . Most of them cancelled their trips and went to countries such as Nepal, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia from Delhi. Most bookings from foreign tourists till March have been cancelled.”
The few ‘foreign faces’ in the area, he says, are mostly businessmen who import handicrafts from Paharganj, says Baluja. As we talk, Baluja dials a person called ‘Pradhan’. He wants him to meet us. Pradhan, a stodgy man in grey jacket, arrives in five minutes. His name is Arun Gupta and he is called Pradhan because the is the general secretary of Hotel Mahasangh, an association of Delhi’s budget hotels. Gupta says he is in a hurry and we would have to ask our questions fast. And before we could ask, he speaks against demonetisation.
“The government could have easily allowed at least the foreigners to use old notes. It is grossly unfair to set an exchange limit of ₹5,000 in a week for them,” says Gupta. For fuLL story Log on to