The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Board on Monday said it is targeting 3 million tourist arrivals in the state during this monsoon season.
The board has partnered with a host of hotels and travel agencies offering discounts in order to attract more tourists during the ‘lean’ rainy season.
“The tourism department has set a target to attract a total of 30 lakh tourists during this monsoon season, while around 28 lakh tourists visited the state during last year,” HP Tourism director Arun Sharma said in a statement.
Around 2.2 million tourists visited the state during monsoon in 2008, which swelled to 2.6 million during 2009, he added.
For the whole of 2010, the state received 13.2 million tourists, an increase of 16.83 per cent compared to the previous year. “State-run HPTDC hotels are offering heavy discounts in all major tourist destinations during the leisure period from July 1 to September 14,” the statement said.
Various travel and hotel associations at Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala are also offering discounts to the visitors besides extensive marketing campaigns in metropolitan cities through reputed travel agencies.
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The state is also focusing on foreign tourist arrivals during the season. “A target has been set up to attract around 225,000 foreign tourists during the period. 168,000 foreign tourists visited the state in 2010,” Sharma added.
According to the statement, monsoon season is traditionally a lean period for the tourism industry of the state, with hotels laying off staff due to guest occupancies dropping by nearly 50 per cent. It is between April and June every year that the state receives maximum tourist inflow.
Driven by active promotion by the department, the inner ranges of Himalayas with open valleys in tribal areas of Lahaul Spiti, Pangi, Bharmour and Kinnaur, have become a huge hit during monsoon.
Data show that around 25 per cent of the total tourists visit the tribal districts during monsoon season.