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Sikkim sees tourist boom after Nepal killings

The massacre of most of Nepal's royal family last week and the unrest that followed has increased tourist arrivals in the neighbouring Indian state of Sikkim, officials and tour operators said on Saturday. "There has been a 15 per cent increase in tourist inflow into Sikkim after the Nepal incident. Sikkim has a similar terrain and climate to Nepal," executive Director of Sikkim's State Tourist Development Corporation PK Dong said.

Tour operators and officials say that many Indian tourists, who had planned their summer holidays in Nepal, had cancelled them and opted for nearby Sikkim.

The Himalayan state of Sikkim shares a mountainous 100 km (62 miles) border with Nepal. Last week, Nepal's King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and seven other royals were killed by crown Prince Dipendra in a shooting rampage, witnesses have said. Dipendra is then said to have turned a gun on himself and died later.

The killings sparked off riots in several parts of Nepal.

In Sikkim, tour operators and hotel owners say the situation in Nepal has been a boon for the state where the tourist season was winding down with the onset of the monsoon.

"We are receiving more than the usual amount of tourists for this period. Many tourists have cancelled their trips to Nepal and are coming to Sikkim instead, as it has a similar mountainous geography," said Sony Vridi, a tour operator in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.

"We are being flooded with enquiries about Sikkim from people wanting to spend the hot summer in a mountainous place and who have ruled out Nepal," Vridi added.

Sikkim, which became a part of India in 1975, received 250,000 domestic tourists in 2000 and 15,000 foreign visitors.

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