Dharamsala hoteliers plan tourism fest

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 16

Hotel association of Dharamsala led by Ashwani Bamba proposes to hold a meeting of travel agents from across the country to promote the area.

While talking to The Tribune, Bamba said that it was for the first time such an event was being planned here. The Dharamsala area has been facing slide in numbers of tourists for the past several years.

Traffic jams in McLeodganj area during the peak tourist season has given a bad name to the area due to which many tourists are now avoiding the area.

“We have requested the district administration to complete the Bhagsunag-Indrunag road project that has been lingering for the past many years now so that one-way traffic scheme could be implemented in upper Dharamsala. The area also lacks adequate parking places and we have requested the district administration to construct more parking places under the Smart City scheme”, he said.

Bamba said that hoteliers had invested hundreds of crores in developing infrastructure and are giving employment to thousands of youth. It is the duty of the government to at least provide basic infrastructure for private entrepreneurs.

He said that the tourism fest in which travel agents from the across the country would be invited would be held from March 1 to 3 in indoor stadium at Dharamsala. The hoteliers from the region would put up their stalls during the fest.

“We have requested Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to provide financial assistance to the association for organising the event”, he said.

The members of the hotel association had met the Chief Minister during his recent visit to Dharamsala and requested for funds. The Chief Minister, however, did not give any commitment to the organization regarding financial assistance.