Weary Chennaiites keep festivities at minimum

According to them, the bookings have drastically reduced, compared to previous years. Be it a party at a resort by the ECR or short trips, Chennaiites always had the options aplenty to make the most of Christmas week, but this year witnessed so much towards the end, they seem not to be in the mood to celebrate. Aziz of Amazing Travels says, “Demonetisation has severely affected the tourism industry. Usually, people plan a quick trip around the year-end to make use of the school vacation and longline of holidays. January 1 falling on a Sunday this New Year, it would have made for a perfect holiday season. But due the current currency crunch  situation, things are different. Compared to last year, the number of bookings have come down by 50 per cent.”A travel agent, on condition of anonymity, says, “We have customers who book tickets only by paying in cash. These are often big family crowds who go out for a vacation.

There is a drastic fall in booking.”People DTNext spoke to say that didn’t have the time to plan a holiday this time. “With so much happening around, all we can do is to take a drive to Mahabalipuram and Puducherry for a couple of days. My wife likes collecting local products from every place we visit. With the current cash crunch, that too wouldn’t be possible,” said Kumar, a city-based entrepreneur. Even the adventure seekers have to alter their plans  with no cash in hand. “Every year, we would go as a gang to small hill stations. These are remote places that have no mobile phone tower cell signals. Debit or credit cards won’t be of any help, as small outlets and homestays run on cash. So, travelling to such places is not possible now,” says Himesh, IT firm employee.