West Bengal tourism deptt reopens 10 facilities amid COVID-19 pandemic

The West Bengal tourism department has reopened at least 10 of its facilities in different parts of the state, even as the travel industry reels under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Friday.

Among those opened to the public are the Morgan House tourist lodge in Kalimpong in North Bengal and a property in the seaside resort town of Digha, the tourism department official said.

"Out of 34 tourist lodges spread across the state, at least 10 have been reopened," he said.

All care is being taken to ensure safety of tourists in the present pandemic situation with sanitisation of every room after check-out of guests, the official said.

"In order to maintain social distancing, food is served in rooms only and not at the in-house restaurants," he said.

Online bookings can be made from the West Bengal tourism website.

The other places where the tourist lodges have been reopened are Bishnupur, Maithon, Diamond Harbour, Tilabari, Rangabitan in Shantiniketan, Bakkhali, Jhargram and Malancha, the official said.

Raj Basu, Convenor of Association for Conservation and Tourism, said thousands of people related to the tourism business are suffering in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"It is not only those in the hotel and resort business, but the drivers of tourist vehicles, guides and many others are out of work," he said.

Basu said that though some facilities have reopened in north Bengal, inflow of tourists is yet to pick up.

Lack of regular train services is also a hindrance to movement of tourists, he added.