Tourist influx witnesses dip in Kullu-Manali, hoteliers worried

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, May 8

The delight of hoteliers turned into despair soon in the wake of significant decline in tourist influx in Kullu-Manali for the past few days. The room occupancy, hoteliers say, has been reduced up to 40 per cent.

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The state government should make efforts to attract tourists by publicising tourist places outside the state. We are hopeful that in the next few days, the tourist influx will gain momentum because the temperature is rising in plains. — Anup Thakur, Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal President

Kullu-Manali had been witnessing a significant rush of tourists since April and room occupancy in hotels had gone up 90 per cent. However, for the past few days, the sudden dip in tourist influx has been witnessed much against the expectations of the hoteliers.

With the considerable increase in temperature in plains, the hoteliers of Kullu-Manali were hopeful that they would do good business in May and June. A large number of tourists from plains were expected to rush to this popular tourist spot to get respite from the scorching heat of plains. But the occupancy in hotels is much below expectation and hoteliers are feeling helpless.

Hem Raj Sharma, an hotelier of Manali, said: “The room occupancy in hotels has dipped to 40 per cent during the last few days as there is significant decline in tourist influx. A majority of tourists are moving to Leh directly from Manali side after the opening of Manali-Leh highway for civil traffic. The famed tourist spot Manali has become a transit point after the opening of Atal tunnel.”

“It has also come to notice that the tourists are thronging Jammu and Kashmir in large numbers, which could be one reason for the decline in tourist arrival here,” he added.

Anup Thakur, president of Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal, said: “The drastic downfall in the number of tourists is a cause for concern. Tourism in Kullu-Manali circuit is the backbone of hoteliers, taxi operators, tour operators, taxi operators, adventure sports service providers, shopkeepers and others, who directly or indirectly benefit from it. The state government also earns good revenue from the tourism industry.”

“The state government should make efforts to attract tourists to the state by publicising tourist places outside the state. We are hopeful that in the next few days, the tourist influx will gain momentum because the temperature is rising high in plains these days,” he said.

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