Snow promises heavy tourist rush in Shimla

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 19

“With MeT Department issuing warning of heavy to very heavy rains and snow from January 21 onwards, hoteliers are expecting heavy tourist rush next week.

The tourist inflow is likely to increase as visitors would visit key tourist spots after snowfall and a long weekend would prove a boon for the hotel industry”, said MK Seth, president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association.

The occupancy in Shimla hotels and surrounding areas is expected to go up by 70 to 80 per cent as requests for bookings have started pouring in advance”, he said adding that a further long weekend will further boost the tourist inflow.

Short stay of tourists (one or two days) is a major constraint faced by the tourism industry and efforts are on to create new attractions and tourist spots to increase the stay of the tourists visiting the “Queen of Hills”.

At present, the tourists coming to Shimla are offered sightseeing packages for temples in the vicinity of the main town, adjoining destinations of Kufri, Naldehra and Chharabra besides The Mall and adjoining places like the Institute of Advance Studies, museum etc.The new sites include temple circuits of nearby places, heritage sites in adjoining rural areas, Shoghi-Tara Devi circuit, cycling and walking tracks and visits to apple orchards. There are a lot of places in and around Shimla, which can be tourist attractions and these places will be made part of the local sightseeing tours, Seth maintained. The tourists coming to Shimla on their own or on hired vehicles are facing inconvenience as most of the roads within the towns are either restricted or sealed and violators are fined upto Rs 3,000 said a local hotelier. Even the road from Kennedy Chowk to Boileauganj, which leads to the State Museum, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, All-India Radio, Doordarshan, Peterhoff and Circuit House (under construction) and the district courts is restricted and residents have been demanding that the road should be declared open for light vehicles.