Tourism industry in Joshimath is going down with the 'sinking' town

Joshimath is looking at a long winter as locals flee and tourism falls to almost zero with the area witnessing an ecological crisis. A town of 17,000 people with more than 50 hotels, has been declared ‘disaster-prone’ by the government. Usually considered a motel town for all those travelling to key tourist destinations including the revered Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib, Joshimath is now witnessing the slow death of its key business.

The tourism industry forms 70 per cent of the town’s economy. The town sees a footfall of close to millions of devotees every year, while generating allied jobs for the residents. Most of the hotels in Joshimath have closed their operations, some said they are already operating incurring operational losses.

Shrikant Dimri, owner, Hotel Mount View Joshimath says, “The winter season is ruined for the industry, revenue has plummeted over 80 per cent for the majority of the hotel owners. No new tourists are coming now.” Dimri has closed operations at his hotel.

Though Dimri is worried how he will pay wages to his 15 people staff he is hopeful that the starting of Badrinath Yatra in April will give momentum to the industry again. “A lot depends on how much Joshimath sinks,” Dimri says.

According to State Tourism ministry data in 2021, over 165,000 visited Joshimath town. However, more than half a million tourists went through the town to visit destinations like Badrinath, Auli, and Hemkund Sahib, etc.

While speaking to Business Standard, a district tourism development officer from Chamoli district said the tourism industry has taken a severe hit. Not just hotels but all the small businesses associated with the tourism industry are looking at a hiatus.

On industry's demand for government support the official said, “Currently, the focus is on evacuation, that (discussion with industry) will happen at a later stage.”  Around 60 families have been evacuated till yet from Joshimath.

Though, experts panel has reached Joshimath to examine affected areas, as of now, there is no evidence available clearing the reasons behind this disaster in Joshimath.

Ranjit Sinha, Disaster Management Secretary while speaking to media on Monday said, “All we know is land can not bear the load. Our relief work is still on & until then there will be no construction work done at the location. ”

Experts have blamed unplanned infrastructure development, including hydropower projects, for the alarming situation.

The Joshimath incident could also leave a blot on the image of Uttarakhand which is a key tourist attraction - both religious and leisure. The state government in recent years had done aggressive media campaigns for its tourism industry. Some of the noted tourist destinations in the state include — Gaumukh, Yamunotri, Gangoti, Badrinath, Hemkund, Kedarnath, Uttarkashi, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Nainital, etc.

Uttarakhand has more than 1,000 hotels and tourist stays. The average cover per restaurant in Uttarakhand is about 30 and the average employment per establishment is 5.5.

According to a report by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in 2019, tourism is estimated to contribute 2.96 percent directly to Uttarakhand's Gross Value Added (GVA) and 11.8 per cent to the state employment.

With the inclusion of indirect shares pertaining to linkages of tourism with other sectors of the economy, these shares work out to 6.59 per cent in GVA and 26.8 per cent in employment.

According to the NCAER report for an international tourist the average per tourist expenditure is Rs 90,869. A tourist from the other states of India spends Rs 15,150 and a tourist from Utttrakhand spends 7,230 during a visit.

Locals in the state tend to enter the hospitality industry because of the high revenues. According to Uttarakhand Tourism Development Master Plan 2007—2022, the financial performance of the hotels  industry is quite encouraging with an average gross operating profit of more than 50 percent