The beginning of the festival season in October has lent a glimmer of hope to the tourism season in Himachal, which stands to gain from the same. Representatives from the hospitality sector said the period from July to September had seen a lull and they hoped October would provide a boost to tourism in the hill station.
Ajay Butail, CII Himachal Pradesh Tourism Cell’s co-coordinator, maintained Himachal was certainly anticipating greater tourist inflow in October. Even as the month marks the beginning of the festival season and results in tourism activity picking up, this year the hill station would witness additional traffic on account of various factors. Butail added that Himachal stood to gain from Commonwealth Games being organized in Delhi as most of people heading north for vacations would opt for Himachal. Tension brewing in the Kashmir valley has made the chances of Kashmir attracting tourists bleak. Also, with rains causing heavy damage to Uttarakhand, the tourist inflow would get directed towards Himachal Pradesh.
According to Himachal’s government officials, around 200 people have died in rain-related incidents this year Yogesh Behl, General Manager, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), maintained they were expecting good occupancy rate for hotels operated by HPTDC in October.
Even though October generally results in tourism activity gaining momentum, this year the hopes were higher. Behl maintained they were expecting upto 80 per cent occupancy rates in HPTDC hotels this time compared to 60 per cent normally observed during the month.
Umesh Akre, President, Himachal Hotel Association, maintained that October could witness an increase of 10-15 per cent over the previous year . “We’re expecting October and the subsequent months to shine. With the weather improving, if road infrastructure can be taken care of, it would certainly help Himachal attract more tourists,” he said.
