Hotel occupancy goes up from 10 to 70% in Shimla as holiday season begins

A huge crowd of tourists and locals gathered on the historic Ridge to celebrate Christmas and enjoy the Winter Carnival here today. Towards the evening, despite the cold, tourists and locals gathered in huge numbers and danced together to the tunes of the DJ and other musical events with the entire area Ridge Maidan full to capacity.

Following the snowfall on Monday, just two days ahead of Christmas, a lot of tourists have arrived in Shimla for Christmas and New Year celebrations. Many have extended their stay in Shimla following the snowfall. “We were not expecting snowfall when we planned our trip to Shimla. It was really wonderful to experience snowfall. We’ve decided to extend our stay for a few more days,” said a tourist from Maharashtra.

As a result, hotel occupancy has risen significantly in the city. “The hotel occupancy was just around 10 per cent in the week leading up to the Christmas. This has jumped to 60 to 70 per cent following the snowfall ahead of Christmas,” said Mohinder Seth, president of the Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association. Some tour and travel operators said the occupancy was close to 80 per cent.

Incidentally, the last three years went without snowfall in December in Shimla and surrounding places, leading to a reduced tourist influx during Christmas and New Year celebrations in Shimla. “Last year, the average occupancy was just around 30 to 35 per cent in the week leading up to New Year. It has doubled this time, largely due to snowfall,” said Seth. The tourist footfall has increased despite both Christmas and New Year falling on working days. “The tourist rush would have been even more if Christmas and New Year had fallen on weekend,” said Seth.

Prince Kukreja, the vice-president of the hoteliers’ association, said the occupancy was likely to increase further till New Year. “There’s forecast for more snowfall between December 27 and 29. This would encourage more people to travel to Shimla to ring in the New Year,” he said. Due to heavy rush, people encountered slow traffic movement inside the city, especially towards the evening.