Covid threat wanes, tourist footfall increases in Manali

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, May 30

The tourism industry of Kullu-Manali has been growing steadily for the past one year.

Data procured by The Tribune from the Tourism Department shows that in 2021, Kullu district has witnessed a considerable increase in the tourist influx over the previous year.

With the outbreak of Covid in 2020, the tourism industry of Kullu-Manali was hit hard. In 2019, the district had witnessed over 30 lakh domestic and foreign tourists, which was reduced to 7.70 lakh in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, in 2021, the number of tourists stood at 16.47 lakh.

The data shows that in April 2020, the number of tourists was nil, in May the number was 53 and in June, it was 18. Thereafter, the district had witnessed a slight increase in tourist influx but the highest number of tourists was 2,10,762 in December 2020.

In 2021, the pandemic had taken a downward turn. As a result, from January to December 2021, the district had witnessed an increase in tourist influx. In January 2021, the district witnessed 1.96 lakh tourists, while in December, 2.98 lakh tourists visited the region.

Gajender Thakur, chief patron of the Hoteliers Association, Manali, told The Tribune that the pandemic had hit the industry hard. Now, it is on a recovery path. This year they were expecting a record number of tourists.

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