Digha Deserted: Four-Day Holiday Fails to Attract Tourists, Hotels Empty

• Digha's beaches and hotels are unusually empty despite a continuous four-day holiday weekend including Saraswati Puja, Netaji's birthday, and Republic Day.
• Both Old Digha and New Digha report extremely low tourist footfall and advance bookings, a stark contrast to typical long holiday periods.
• Hotel owners, like Debabrata Das, express concern over the unprecedented lack of bookings, stating such a situation has not been seen in previous years.
• Reasons cited for the low turnout include families staying home for Saraswati Puja and widespread tension due to SIR (State Investigation Report) hearings, making people reluctant to travel.
• Tourism-dependent businesses are facing significant losses, though there's a slim hope for increased tourist numbers during the Republic Day holiday.

Why It Matters: Digha faces an unprecedented tourist drought during a long holiday weekend, impacting local businesses.