After lean start to year, tourist footfall expected to rise in HP

Hoteliers from Himachal said the occupancy, which peaked after the snowfall in December and was nearly at 100% of New Year’s eve, has seen a slump since

After a tough couple of months to start the year, the tourist footfall in Himachal is expected to rise from March.

January recorded the ninth-lowest rainfall in Himachal since 1901. (Aqil Khan/HT)

Hoteliers from Himachal said the occupancy, which peaked after the snowfall in December and was nearly at 100% of New Year’s eve, has seen a slump since. They attributed the decline to scarce snowfall and the Mahakumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj.

On New Year’s eve, hotel occupancy was nearly 100% in Shimla and close to 80% at other major tourist destinations.

While December last year saw excess precipitation, January this year recorded the ninth-lowest rainfall in the state since 1901. The precipitation remains less in February so far as well.

Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association head Mohinder Kumar Seth said, “Due to lack of snowfall and Mahakumbh, we had negligible occupancy in January. The situation remains the same in February. The average hotel occupancy was around 20%. There was hardly any business. But we expect that tourist footfall to improve in March and April,” he said.

In Dharamshala, the mighty Dhauladhar mountain range overlooking the popular tourist destination paints a grim picture with sparse snow cover. Dharamshala hotel association president Ashwani Bamba said the decline in tourist arrivals was primarily because of Mahakumbh. “People travelled to Prayagraj and it hit tourism in other places, including Himachal. In January and February, there was a major impact on hotels in Dharamshala as well. The occupancy, which is usually around 30% in January, was only at 5 to 7%. In February, it remained around 8% on weekdays and 15-20% on weekends,” he said.

Hoteliers said they expect the arrivals to increase after February 20 and the occupancy to climb to 25%. They added the hotel occupancy is expected to reach 45% in March. “Because the financial year is ending, we expect more arrivals with an increase in leisure tourism,” Bamba said.

Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal chief Anup Thakur said the tourist footfall was lower than expected. “Tourism in Manali depends on snowfall. Although snowfall was recorded— mainly in Rohtang, Solang and Sissu — it was not as much as anticipated in Manali town. As a result, hotel occupancy was around 15 to 20% since January, with little change at present. Tourist footfall does see a slight increase on weekends,” he said.