SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh’s tourist industry experienced losses of nearly Rs 2,000 crore in July and August as a result of which the state’s hoteliers have started promoting alluring deals to get back on track. The monsoon created havoc and caused poor tourist footfall, dealing another blow to the hill state’s tourism economy, which was trying to recover from Covid-19. As heavy rains harmed road infrastructure, the hill state’s lifeline, and also cast a shadow on the already constrained air and rail connectivity, the tourism sector, which contributes more than Rs 14,000 crore annually to Himachal Pradesh’s GDP, lost about Rs 2,000 crore in July and August, according to officials of the tourism department.According to Amit Kashyap, managing director of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), “the tourism industry has suffered heavy losses and the only silver lining was an influx of devotees in six Shakti Peeths in Una, Bilaspur, and Kangra districts of the state.” According to police statistics, during the Navratri celebrations from August 17 to 25, 8.24 lakh pilgrims visited the shrines of Chamunda Devi, Chintpurni, Sri Naina Devi, Jawalaji, Brajeshwari, and Sri Baglamukhi. Although there was an increase in tourist arrivals during the pre-monsoon season—as many as 1.06 crore tourists visited Himachal Pradesh during the first half of 2023, compared to 86.4 lakh during the same period in 2022—the monsoon wrath played spoiler, Kashyap added.M K Seth, president of the Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association, stated that the roads to Shimla have been opened and that the tourism sector is currently offering enticing packages with discounts of between 40% and 50%. In light of the upcoming G20 Summit, he continued, “We can only hope that the public holiday in New Delhi from September 8 to 10 could break the ice. The situation, according to Seth, is not as dire as reported in the media, and on the plus side, hotel rates are down and traffic is lighter than usual. “We anticipate things will get better in October,” he continued. The situation, according to Seth, is not as dire as reported in the media, and on the plus side, hotel rates are down and traffic is lighter than usual. “We anticipate things will get better in October,” he continued. The roadways along the Beas River in Manali werehed away, according to Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Associations, but traffic is being rerouted via alternative roads. Thakur stressed that the difficulty is between Mandi and Kullu since the roads there are frequently blocked by landslides near Pandoh. We visited Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, who gave us the assurance that the roads would open up soon, and the hotel owners in Manali are prepared to welcome guests. We anticipate an increase in the number of visitors starting in the first or second week of October,” he stated. The group, according to Thakur, is also writing a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking her to postpone the repayment of hoteliers’ loans and to stop enforcing fixed power and other fees till the industry recovers. Along with hotels, other tourism-related businesses including taxi drivers, travel brokers, and store owners have also been impacted. Heavy rains caused a large number of reservations to be cancelled in July, according to Devender Rana, the proprietor of Paradise Tours & Travel. He predicted that travel would increase in October after the monsoon season and the Dussehra celebrations were finished. According to data from the state emergency operation centre, 397 people—257 in rain-related incidents and 140 in accidents—have perished since the start of the monsoon between June 24 and September 2. According to figures from the centre, the hill state has already lost this monsoon a total of Rs 8,663 crore. The largest losses for the public works department were Rs 2,937 crore, it was said.
