Shimla off Gujarat tourists’ list

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 18

Travel agents of Gujarat have removed Shimla from their list. 

Gujarat, which accounts for more than 30 per cent of tourist inflow, is important for Shimla as bulk tourists are necessary for the survival of the tourism industry and Gujarat is a state where travel agents bring groups of tourists. 

The season begins from November to June, says president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, MK Seth, who visited Gujarat to hold talks with stakeholders, including hoteliers and travel agents.

The hike in composite fee of buses, no permission to buses to enter the city, absence of Gujarati food and nothing much to visit other than The Mall and Kufri in Shimla had been cited as the reasons by travel agents, he said, adding that with this budget, the tourist preferred foreign destinations.

Though he had apprised the stakeholders that Jakhu ropeway, Tulip Garden, Army and wax museums and a number of new tourist destinations had come up, the state government had miserably failed to promote Shimla and other areas as tourist destinations, Seth added.

The operating costs of hotels had increased as the tariff charged from hoteliers was 35 per cent higher and property tax was 25 per cent higher than the commercial rate while electricity charges were on fixed demand charges (Rs 125 per kilowatt), which hotel owners had to pay whether there was occupancy or not, said general secretary of the association Rahul Chawla.

An RTI information revealed that there were only 268 hotels registered with the Tourism Department having 4,356 rooms with only 9,064 bed capacity and the mushrooming growth of unregistered flats and homes in Shimla and its suburbs, which had increased to 670 units, had dented the business of hotels.

As per the data of the department, 1,96,01,533 tourists, including 4,70,992 foreigners, visited the state last year, which was 6.24 per cent more than the previous year. However, the hoteliers refuted the figures and said tourists visiting three or four places were counted three or four times and stated that revenue from luxury tax was not going up which implied that there was something wrong with the data.

The association would submit a 62-page report to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on development of tourist spots in and around Shimla, the problem of illegal hotels and increase in operating costs of the tourism industry, Seth told The Tribune.

Report for CM

The hoteliers would submit a report to the Chief Minister on the development of tourist spots in and around Shimla, the problem of illegal hotels and increase in operating costs of the tourism industry. 

21 hotels closed

• As many as 21 hotels have been closed in Shimla in five years
• The number of unregistered flats and homes being sold online has increased to 670 units.
• The occupancy in hotels has reduced by 50 per cent this monsoon
•