SHIMLA: The number of foreign and domestic tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh declined by 10 per cent in the April-June 2018 tourist season as compared to the corresponding period in 2016 and 2017, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has said.
As per the data provided by Thakur in the state Assembly on Wednesday, 1.25 lakh foreign tourists visited the state in the tourist season from April to June last year.
The number was over ten per cent less as compared to foreigners visiting Himachal Pradesh in the three months in 2016 and 2017.
In reply to a question by Congress MLA Sunder Singh Thakur, the chief minister said 1.42 lakh and 1.36 lakh foreign tourists had visited the state from April to June in 2017 and 2016 respectively.
Similarly, the number of domestic tourists also saw a dip.
Only 52.89 lakh domestic tourists visited Himachal Pradesh from April to June in 2018, which is much less as compared to 59.38 lakh and 55.20 lakh who had visited the state during the same period in 2017 and 2016 respectively.
The data also found that the highest number of foreign and domestic tourists visited Himachal Pradesh in the month of June, followed by April and May in the last three years.
When asked about the data, the chief minister told PTI on Thursday that the number of tourists decreased last year due to extreme heat conditions.
"Now several steps to promote tourism are being taken, the positive results of which will be witnessed this year and in coming years," he added.