Digha witnesses a little dip in Puja bookings this year

Kolkata: Digha, known to be Bengali’s favorite beach destination, has geared up for the upcoming festivals, including the much-awaited Durga Puja. With the festive season round-the-corner, Digha is expecting a huge number of tourists every year. This year, there is little disappointment for the hoteliers as the hotels are not witnessing the influx of tourists that are normally seen during the festive season.

The trend of hotel booking is not so satisfactory so far in Digha as only 15-20 per cent of rooms in these hotels have been booked. During last year when it was just barely 2-3 days from Durga Puja, the booking in hotels almost reached 100 per cent. According to sources, there are around 3000-4000 hotels in Digha. Adjacent beach towns Mandarmani and Tajpur have seen a similar situation.

“Several packages have been started to attract the tourists, but the number of tourist influx has been lower during this year’s festive season. A few days ago there were many tourists in Digha. We expect that the number will go up as the Puja begins,” said a senior official of Digha Shankarpur Hotel Owners’ Association.

The state government and local administration have been working tirelessly to upgrade Digha into a world-class tourist center. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a couple of months ago had announced that the Rathayatra celebration will be performed at the Lord Jagannath Dham temple in Digha from next year.

It is thus assumed that the grand inauguration of the Jagannath Temple will be done either towards the end of the current year or before the Rathayatra next year.

The construction of the temple has been going on. She also said a magnificent Rath Yatra, comparable in size to the one in Puri, will also be hosted in the state.