Tourism industry of Kullu-Manali hit hard

Dipender Manta

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Mandi, June 27

With the onset of the rainy season, the tourism industry of Kullu-Manali and Lahaul-Spiti has been in distress for the past two days. Heavy rain caused widespread damage in several parts of the state like Mandi and Kullu districts, where a large number of rural and main roads, including Chandigarh-Manali highway, were blocked to traffic for long hours due to landslides on Sunday and Monday. Some houses and cowsheds suffered damages and two persons were washed away in Mandi district.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway remained blocked yesterday for almost 23 hours between Mandi and Kullu following huge landslide and thousands of tourists were forced to spend night in vehicles. As soon as the report about the tourists being left stranded for long hours spread, hotels of Kullu-Manali and Lahaul-Spiti witnessed dip in the bookings.

Gajender Thakur, chief patron of Hoteliers Association, Manali, said “The monsoon mayhem has had an adverse impact on the tourism industry in Kullu-Manali. The influx of tourists has reduced considerably within two days. We are expecting the weather conditions to improve so that the tourist arrival picks up again.”

Anup Thakur, president of Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal, said, “Heavy rain spelled doom to the tourism industry of Kullu-Manali. Three days ago, in Kullu-Manali had above 80 per cent room occupancy in hotels. But since Sunday it has dipped below 30 per cent, which is a cause of concern for us. Many tourists have cancelled their bookings.”

“The blockade of the Chandigarh-Manali highway between Mandi and Kullu for so long had a major adverse impact because this highway is the lifeline of the tourism industry of Kullu-Manali. A majority of tourists from Chandigarh and Delhi prefer this highway to travel to Kullu-Manali,” he added.

“Road stretch between Mandi and Pandoh is in bad condition because of on-going four-laning construction work. The district administration, Mandi, should ask the National Highways Authority of India to deploy adequate machinery on this road stretch to ensure its speedy restoration in the event of any blockade during the rainy season,” he said.

Tanzin Karpa, president of Hoteliers Association, Lahaul, said, “The room occupancy in hotels of Lahaul has reduced to below 40 per cent from 80 per cent within two days. Many tourists have cancelled their bookings. The rain in Himachal has adversely impacted the tourism industry of Lahaul and Spiti even though the weather is pleasant here.”