Tourist footfall has picked up in the state in the month of June following modest arrivals in May. “The tourist footfall last month was quite low.
The conflict with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack was the major reason behind low the arrival. But now, the situation has improved a lot,” said Anoop Thakur, a hotelier from Manali. “Currently, the occupancy rate in Manali is around 80 per cent,” he said.
The tourist arrival has increased in Shimla as well over the past one week, but it’s not as high as in Manali.
“May was bad for us but the situation has improved over the past one week. Currently, the occupancy rate is around 50 to 60 per cent in Shimla.
As the heat increases in the plains, it will go further up,” said Prince Kukreja, vice-president of the Shimla Hoteliers Association.
In May, tourists come here mostly from southern states and Maharashtra. “Most bookings were cancelled in May because many people in the South see Kashmir and Himachal as one region.
So, they were a little scared to visit immediately after the terror attack. Currently, a majority of the tourists coming here are from North India,” said Kukreja.
The other reason for low arrival in May was the regular rainfall throughout the month. “Due to the rains, the weather was pleasant in the plains. But now the temperatures have started soaring, and the arrival has improved,” said Kukreja.
The rising footfall, though, is causing traffic jams, particularly in Manali where the arrival is quite high. “The flip side of the high arrival of tourists is the long traffic jams.
It takes about one-and-a-half hour to reach Rohtang from Manali, but these days the time could stretch up to four to five hours,” he said.
Thakur further said that tourism in Manali was primarily running on nature and the government needed to develop new destinations to sustain it.
“There’s a massive rush at Rohtang Pass and other places. We need to develop new tourist attractions to ensure people do not crowd up at one single point,” he said, adding that basic tourist infrastructure like parking lots and public toilets need to be ramped up.
“Tourism is probably the largest source of employment in the state. Even the government gets so much tax from this sector. The sector should be on top of the government’s priority list,” he said.
