Leh market witnesses downfall in business

A plunge in tourism and bussiness has been reported here with a spate of Chinese incursions being cited as among the factors.
At Panaroma Hotel, which offers typical Ladakhi food, the business is down this season.
"We are running this hotel for the last 20 years or so and every year there is good business happening. But this season it is not so good. The condition got worse as lot of tourists who had booked the rooms, cancelled their reservation as the news of Chinese incursion came out," a senior staff member of the hotel, who did not wished to be named, told PTI.

"Generally we have 100 per cent occupancy but this season is it is almost down to 50 per cent. We are hoping things will be better," he added.
Leh View cafe, which is the market area, has a similar story.
"We have been doing business for eight years but this is one of the worst seasons for us. Our business is only little over 30 per cent this season. This is to due to the Chinese incursion," the owner Muzamil Billai, who came to Ladakh from Kashmir, said.
People at Thongsal Resort, who are in this business since 20 years, too reported a drop in foreign tourists this season.

The local market here offers a variety of knick-knacks for tourists like woolen clothes to Tibetian jewellery, bags, footwear, carpets and local food at various cafes and restaurants but things have not been very great business wise this season.