Chasing ‘white New Year’, tourists flock to Himachal

Mainly the Kullu-Manali and adjoining regions have witnessed a sharp rise with thousands of vehicles are making a beeline every day, thus also increasing the hotel occupancy

With IMD predicting rain and snowfall at many places of the hill state on December 31 and January 1, the tourist footfall has started flocking Himachal with a hope of witnessing a white new year.

People strolling on The Ridge in Shimla on Tuesday. (Deepak Sansta/HT)

Mainly the Kullu-Manali and adjoining regions have witnessed a sharp rise with thousands of vehicles are making a beeline every day, thus also increasing the hotel occupancy. Meanwhile, the stakeholders are hopeful that hotel occupancy will also increase in other tourist destinations, including Shimla and Dharamshala.

Tourists and local stakeholders are keenly awaiting snowfall, which is likely to give a further push to tourism by facilitating snow-based activities. President of Manali hoteliers’ association Roshan Thakur said that tourist footfall has increased significantly and is expected to rise further on December 31 (Wednesday) on the occasion of New Year’s Eve. “If snowfall occurs, as predicted by the IMD, the number of tourists will increase further. We are excited about the possibility of snowfall and tourists are also eagerly waiting for it. At present, hotel occupancy is around 85% and we expect it to increase to around 90–95% on December 31,” he said.

Earlier this month, the hotel occupancy was around 60% in Kullu-Manali. After the recent light snowfall in higher reaches of the state, popular tourist destinations such as Solang Valley, the Atal Tunnel and Shinkula Pass have emerged as major hubs of tourist activity.

Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal chief Anup Thakur said, “We are eagerly waiting for snowfall. All hoteliers in Manali are ready to welcome tourists. Hotel occupancy is increasing and is expected to rise further on December 31. Tourists are continuously enquiring about snowfall.”

Shimla hotels and tourism stakeholders’ association president Mohinder Kumar Seth said, “We expect hotel occupancy to increase to around 50–60%. We are waiting for snowfall, as it would further boost tourism if it occurs.”

Meanwhile, Ashwani Bamba, president of the Dharamshala hotel association, said, “We expect hotel occupancy to increase to around 50–60%. As New Year’s Eve falls midweek, it would have attracted more tourists had it been on a weekend.”