KOCHI: The tourism sector , which usually hits a high during this time of the year, has slowed down due to the impact of demonetisation . Tour operators say they have been receiving cancellations and even shifting of dates by travellers “There is a visible slowdown in the number of bookings from the international tourists, considering November, December and January being the peak season of international tourists' inflow. Especially as the tour packages for Kerala are planned for 14 nights on an average, people reconsider possibilities of any inconveniences that can occur during the long stay . There is a lot of spending involved through hard cash alone, for small-scale arts and crafts purchases, where plastic money cannot be used,“ said Shailesh Nair, managing director of a resort chain in Munnar and ex-secretary of Kerala Approved Tour Operators' Association (KATO).However, the second week after demonetisation saw more informed and prepared tourists on field than the first week, when people landed unaware of the development.“The first week of demonetization hit the tourists badly as many did not have proper information about the happenings around. The little knowledge spread around by the public created panic for the ones who landed without prior information,“ said K S A Shamsuddeen, president of Association of Arab Tour Operators (AATO).He said the tourists who came directly without any help of tour operators or agencies were the ones badly hit.“At the airport, they allo wed us to exchange only up to 75 dollars. Such kind of money is not sufficient to spend for the kind of activities I was looking forward to including adventure sports and boating,“ said Tomasz Wozny from Poland.“Tourists who came via agencies could depend on the tour operators' local contacts and thus could take services and purchases on credit. They could later transfer the money via net banking and we could repay their credit money . However, independent tourists had not many to turn to and thus were perplexed,“ he added.Even the tourists who had been to India before were also clueless as to how to cope with the financial emergency .The domestic inflow for homestays have also dropped, says MP Sivadathan, director of Kerala Homestays and Tourism Society (HATS).“There have been over 30 cancellations in November end and beginning of December.The cancellations are mainly from domestic tourists,“ Sivadathan said.