Darjeeling, known as the queen of the hills attracts thousands of tourists every year. The tourists comprises both of the domestic as well as international. Tourism, tea and transport are the three most important base of the economy of Darjeeling. Almost all the economic activities revolve around these three important pillars. There are peoplein Darjeeling whose lives runs around this economic activity since ages. But as time is passing by their only means of livelihood is in utmost danger.
As soon as one lands in Darjeeling town one can notice people encircling the tourist to accompany to the hotels and lodges. They are the agents who work under some people usually the owner of some hotels in Darjeeling town and they find the customers and take them to the hotels. They wait for the tourists to come out of the cars and as soon as the tourists come out of the car they try to convince them to stay in their respective hotels. But recently when I visited the town I found these agents missing from the roads of Darjeeling. These agents are losing their jobs because of the on-line booking system that has taken over the market. Now, who so ever comes to stay in Darjeeling usually does the online pre booking of the hotels, taxies etc. The on-line booking agents provides the tourists discounts on various matters so automatically these tourists becomes attracted to stay in a luxurious hotels in a way cheaper price. So, the jobs of these agents are taken over automatically. It is understandable that this small queen of hills is walking on the path of development but who needs this kind of development when our own people are losing their sole source of income. These agents are having a hard time to compete against this new era of technology. These agents belong to the sector of unorganized workers and as a matter of fact they do not have any job security. It is hard to imagine what they will do once the new technology completely takes over their means to earn a livelihood.
