CHANDIGARH: All roads lead to Himachal Pradesh! The state has witnessed a sudden surge in the number of tourists. This year itself, around 42 lakh tourists have visited the state, including nearly 27 lakh since the beginning of March.
A majority of the tourists are from northern India. Numbers were low in the last two due to the Covid-19 pandemic — 55 lakh in 2021 and 32 lakh in 2020. Before the pandemic, nearly 1.75 crore visitors used to come to Himachal per year.
Amit Kashyap, Director of Tourism and Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, said tourists are coming also because of the early onset of summer. “This kind of tourist footfall in the first three and-a-half months of the year is the highest in the last four years. Hotel occupancy is around 80 per cent,” said Kashyap.
MK Seth, the president of Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, said especially on weekends, tourists from Haryana, Punjab and Delhi visit Himachal. While the bigger hotel chains are doing good business, home-stay arrangements are not doing bad either.
Ashwani Bamba, the president of Dharamsala Hotel and Restaurant Association, said there is heavy rush on weekends and all kinds of accommodations are in demand. There are around 1.25 lakh hotel rooms in the state.
Traditional attractions and new places
Most of the tourists are visiting the popular places like Shimla, Manali and Dharamsala. The tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti has also emerged as a tourist hotspot, especially after the opening of Atal Tunnel in 2020. The state government is also promoting religious tourism and adventure sports to attract more visitors. Not just the hotels, home-stay arrangements are also in demand, especially on the weekends. Officials estimate that the number of visitors will increase as the mercury keeps soaring in nearby places like Punjab and Delhi