Himachal Pradesh in 2010 saw a rise of over 16 per cent of tourists to the hill state, breaking the record of the previous year.
“In all, 13,298,748 tourists visited Himachal in 2010, compared to 11,437,135 in 2009,”said State Chief Minister P K Dhumal at a meeting of the state tourism department here on Tuesday.
This also includes foreigners whose arrival increased from 400,583 visitors in 2009 to 454,851in 2010.
The state tourism department last year launched the promotion of the slogan ‘Himachal for all seasons and reasons’ to further attract tourists.
It was discussed that prominent tourist destinations like Shimla, Kullu and Manali, Dharamsala, Dalhousie, Kasauli among other places attracted majority of the tourists.
While more infrastructure was needed in the unexplored destinations of the state. The state has already made a beginning in ‘home stay’ tourism in order to promote rural tourism, officials said.
In December last year the state tourism department approved helicopter-taxi service to connect 57 helipads in the state most of which are located in remote and lesser known regions.
Approval was also given for setting up of atleast half a dozen seven and five star hotels to attact high-end tourists.
