‘Mountains calling’ for Kolkatans on long weekend

kolkata: Surjya Banerjee and his two IT friends are travelling to Yelbong, a hamlet famous for river canyon trekking, in Kalimpong on Poila Baisakh. Surajit Chakraborty and his wife Moushumi are heading to Gangtok this weekend to beat the sweltering heat.

At a time when Kolkata is heating up, there’s a mad rush of tourists in North Bengal, Sikkim, Himachal and Kashmir, owing to a long weekend. With Poila Baisakh, Bihu and Eid ul-Fitr, the Kolkatans want to make the most of the long weekends. Tourist hubs like Digha, Puri, Mandarmoni, Tajpur, Darjeeling, Goa, and Shimla are witnessing a major influx of tourists from West Bengal.

“We are seeing an uptick in travel demand of over 25-30 per cent from Bengal for this long weekend compared to last year. There’s demand for Darjeeling, Sundarbans, Shantiniketan, Digha and Mandarmani,” said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, Holidays, MICE, Visa-Thomas Cook (India). He also added that Kolkatans are taking leaves for an extended holiday at easy visa destinations like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

While Darjeeling and Sikkim continue to be summer favourites among tourists, Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Leh-Ladakh, Bhutan and North East, mainly Meghalaya are also on top of the lists. The off-track places near Darjeeling like Kolakham, Sittong, Ramdhura, Tinchuley, Bijanbari, Dawaipani and Jhandi are all packed.

“Bengalis are travelling to hill stations. So, North Bengal, Darjeeling and Sikkim are packed in April and May. Also, the resorts near Kolkata are attracting heavy footfall due to Poila Baisakh,” said Prosenjit Bhowmick of Nomadic Weekends.

Monomit Mitra of Go Nomads informed how Kashmir is a major draw among the Kolkatans for the famous tulip festival. “The weekend spots near Kolkata like Digha, and Mandarmoni are also fully packed. There are hardly any train tickets available for NJP,” he said.

Bank officer Sanjay Saha recalled his ordeal at Digha last week. “Neither can you enjoy bathing in the sea nor can you enjoy sitting on the beach. It’s a mess at Digha now,” he said. Travel consultant Urmi Dutta said it’s the season of rhododendron and hence crowds are swelling up in Darjeeling, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. Daniel D’Souza, president & Country Head, Holidays, SOTC Travel said the booking trends from Kolkata show a surge of ‘2x’ compared to previous weekends in 2023. “We are witnessing a trend among customers of taking the Friday and the following Monday off to travel. There’s high interest in Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, North East and also nearby drivable locations like Digha, Mandarmoni, and Tajpur.”