Jewellers feel the heat, tour operators upbeat.

JAIPUR: The free fall of rupee has brought cheers for the tourism industry in the state but sent jitters among jewellers who depend on imports for their raw materials.

Tour operators are upbeat that sudden rise in dollars will bring in more bucks for them. "This is the time when most of the foreigners plan their travel and go for advance booking. With dollar lingering at all time high, tour operators are making profits," said Sanjay Kaushik, a travel expert.

In advance booking, the customer pays 50% of the amount to tour operator while rest 50% just before the beginning of tour. However those in the city who have already booked their packages are the ones at the receiving end. The rise in dollars has derailed their budget and increased the cost of the trip. "Those who have booked for the packages earlier will have to suffer. Their overall traveling cost is likely to increase," added Kaushik.

The tour operators are getting lot of enquires for deferring the traveling plans from locals. "There are no cancellations as of now. Most people are only enquiring about the total cost escalation and accordingly cutting on number of places to visit. But if in coming days, the rupee further falls, there could be cancellations too," said Chirag Jain a tour operator.

The traders engaged in jems and jewellery business are worried over the recent developments. The sector in the state imports everything from outside India. The import bill of jewellery in the state stands at Rs 2,970 cr every year. "There has already been increase in the import duty of gold by the central government and now the weak rupee is adding our woes. Adding to it is the low demand of finished products in the West and Gulf," said Ajay Garg, gold trader.

The experts claim rupee depreciation against the US dollar is in line with other emerging market currencies, which are also falling. "The impact is going to be widespread and will be witnessed across the sectors. Some sectors like tourism and those with heavy depend on imports will have more while rest will be affected marginally," said K L Jain, honorary secretary general of Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com