Tourists opt to welcome New Year in the hills; Ooty, Yercaud and Hogenekkal become crowd favourites
A large number of people hit the roads on a frosty night to welcome the year, those in the tourism sector claimed that tourist arrivals were not as expected.
DTNEXT Bureau
Tourist celebrates new year at Hill Stations
COIMBATORE: Tourists thronged the hill destinations of Ooty and Yercaud to ring in the New Year with festivities.
Even though a large number of people hit the roads on a frosty night to welcome the year, those in the tourism sector claimed that tourist arrivals were not as expected.
"Compared to previous years, occupancy in hotels and resorts in Ooty was lower. Perhaps there was a good crowd from Christmas day till the last weekend on 29 December. Tourist arrivals then began to drop as New Year fell midweek and with schools set to reopen on Thursday. Some hotels also cancelled their New Year's Eve celebrations due to poor bookings. It looks like there is a change in trend with people moving to large public areas to celebrate," said T Krishnaraj, advisory board member of the Nilgiris Hotel and Restaurants Association.
Besides Tamil Nadu, tourists from Kerala and Karnataka also enjoyed the salubrious climate in the hills. However, domestic tourists mainly thronged the Yercaud Hills in Salem to welcome the New Year.
In Coimbatore, people rang in 2025 by gathering on the Race Course, VOC Grounds and other public spots.
The entire Race Course Road stretch was choked with traffic after midnight as over one lakh people left after celebrations.
All the flyovers in the city were closed to prevent untoward incidents.
Similarly, hundreds of people turned up at the Hogenakkal Falls in Dharmapuri to enjoy a refreshing bath in the gushing waters and take a coracle ride in the Cauvery River on Wednesday. Police had a tough time regulating the crowd.
By and large, the New Year began peacefully in Coimbatore and other Western districts without any major unruly incidents.
