Tourists exceed Himachal population

For the first time more tourists than the entire population of Himachal Pradesh have visited the hill state in a year. This information was provided by the State Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday.

The population of the hill state is around 6 million, and last year the number of tourists was slightly less than this. "The 6.5 million tourists also include some 400,000 foreign tourists," said Singh.

"This upward swing has taken place despite poor air and rail connectivity in the state. So almost all these arrivals are taking place by road which have improved considerably in recent years," he claimed.

"While earlier tourists came to Himachal mostly during summer, to escape the intense heat of the plains, but now the trend is to visit Himachal resorts round the year," he added.

He said the state was still missing out on the high-end tourists due to poor air connectivity which needed to be improved.

"The Dharamsala and Kullu airports are being expanded so that larger 45 seater passanger aircraft can land here.We are also exploring the possibility of increasing the length of the Shimla airport," Singh said.

"We are also considering utilising some 60 helipads, scattered all over the state, by introducing heli-taxi services to connect some of the remotest and off-beat locations for the holiday makers," he said.

"We are also exploring two large airports in the lower hills of the state at Balh in Mandi and another in Una district," he added.