Snow brings cheer to tourism stakeholders

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, February 1

Snowfall has brought a huge relief to thousands of people involved in the tourism sector at Kufri, the most-sought after hill station near Shimla. The hill station is frequented by tourists from all over the country in winters, helping locals earn their livelihood.

“There are around 2,000 to 2,500 people involved directly or indirectly in tourism at Kufri from several neighbouring panchayats. These include hoteliers, home stay owners, people running small stalls and those plying horses, photographers, guides, etc. For all of them, there couldn’t have been a better news than snowfall at this time,” said Rakesh Mehta, president of Kufri Beopar Mandal.

All these major stakeholders in the tourism sector have had a rough time this winter, with December and January going totally dry. “For tourists visiting Shimla and nearby places in the winters, snowfall is a major attraction. We had no snowfall in December and January, so the business this year was just about 30 to 40 per cent of a normal winter season,” said Mehta.

Incidentally, December and January are the peak business time in winters in Kufri. “Most of the tourists come here in December and January. The peak time is already over but we can still earn a bit over the next 10-15 if we have a good spell of snow,” said Mohinder, a photographer.