In the wake of the Supreme Court ban on Safaris in the core areas in Tiger Reserves, the forest resorts have felt the heat with low occupancy during the week as many of them have cancelled their bookings.
These resorts had offered discounts on bookings to attract the tourists as they had less than 25 per cent guests during the weekends.
The Jungle Lodges and Resorts which owns properties in Kabini river area has planned a visit to Kabini reservoir, nature walk, village visit, boating in Kabini backwaters and a trek to reach Bheemanakolli temple apart from a few games to keep the guests occupied.
Many guests have stayed at the resorts as they are not keen to travel more than 40 km to see the reservoir or go for a nature walk. “I came with great hopes of sighting a tiger. But, the ban has forced us to spend time in rooms and go for boating,” said Vivek, a tourist.
The forest resort operators in Bandipur are working out plans to take tourists to Mudumalai and encourage them to do activities like photography, nature walk etc.
They have managed to take guests to the nearby Gopalaswamy temple atop the Gopalaswamy Hills. They stop at tribal hamlets enroute to temple, interact with them, know local life and culture.
The decline in the number of the tourists has also affected the business of families selling honey and other forest produces which are dependent on tourism. It has also affected the hotels and restaurants, which are directly or indirectly dependent on the tourists.
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