After lean start to year, tourist footfall sees rise in Himachal

After a lean start to the year, the tourist footfall in Himachal has started to rise and the hotel occupancy has started to climb with the rise in temperatures in plains.The average hotel occupancy has seen a considerable increase in recent days and is much higher than the occupancy in March. Riding on the increasing trend, the hoteliers in Himachal expect the more tourist footfall in May and June.

The hoteliers attributed the decline in hotel occupancy during winters to scarce snowfall and the Mahakumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. The hoteliers reported negligible occupancy in January, when the average hotel occupancy was around 20% and similar trend continued in February as well.

Shimla hotels and tourism stakeholders’ association president Mohinder Kumar Seth said that the recent long weekends have led to a noticeable increase in hotel occupancy across Shimla. “Last weekend, occupancy exceeded 80%, and we are expecting similar numbers for this weekend. Weekday occupancy is currently around 50%, which is significantly higher than the around 25% recorded in March. We anticipate further increase in tourist footfall in May and June and are optimistic about a good tourism season,” he said.

Seth also emphasised the need to streamline the collection of entry fee from tourists. “Currently, the fee is collected manually, which causes unnecessary hassle for visitors. The state government should work towards making the collection of entry fee on the pattern of FASTag for the convenience of tourists. This will help in increasing the occupancy of Shimla circuit up to 100%,” he added.

Himachal, a picturesque hill state, saw a significant decline in tourist numbers during the Covid-19 outbreak. After the Covid-19 woes, heavy rains in August 2023 triggered floods in the state, causing massive damage to road infrastructure and resulted in a dip in tourist influx. However, the number of tourist arrivals is increasing on a year-on-year basis. Last year, the tourist arrivals saw a 13% increase compared to 2023.

Meanwhile, Dharamshala Hotel Association president Ashwani Bamba said that the hotel occupancy during the last weekend went up to more than 80% and even some hotels reported 100% occupancy.

“Now we expect that in the coming weeks, the hotel occupancy will be more than 50% during the upcoming weekends. It will keep increasing in May as well, especially because of the IPL matches scheduled to be held at HPCA stadium in Dharamshala,” he said.

“Earlier in March, the hotel occupancy was only around 10% - 15%. From April 10, the hotel occupancy witnessed a surge as more tourists started coming to Himachal,” he added.