Wheels of hope return to Manali

For more than a month, Manali sat in silence. Streets once alive with the chatter of backpackers and honeymooners were eerily still, hotels shuttered and shop shutters pulled down. The culprit: August’s unrelenting monsoon that severed the town’s lifeline, the National Highway linking it to the plains. For 34 long days, the economy stood paralysed.

Now, the stillness has been broken. The first wave of luxury buses has rumbled back into Manali, bringing not just visitors, but the promise of revival. A coach from Amritsar, carrying 35 tourists from Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi, was the first to arrive, followed closely by five others. For locals, the sight of these buses was more than a transport update; it was a lifeline restored. In a hill town with limited air connectivity, luxury coaches remain the arteries through which tourism flows. Their return signals that Manali’s heart is beating again.

This breakthrough was made possible through the grit of local authorities. Officials from Kullu and Mandi inspected treacherous stretches of the highway themselves before clearing it for heavy vehicles. Their quick action has won the praise of hoteliers and tour operators desperate to salvage what remains of the year.

But challenges loom large. The summer tourist season had already been blunted by geopolitical tensions and the rains only deepened the crisis. Occupancy in hotels still hovers around 10%, with many establishments just reopening after months of closure. In response, the hospitality sector is going all-in on aggressive offers: discounts of 40–50% are being splashed across categories, hoping to lure travellers during Dasehra and Diwali. The idea is simple: tempt visitors back, no matter the margins, to reignite the tourism cycle before winter sets in.

The road ahead, however, is precarious. Though repairs are underway, landslides and weather remain unpredictable. Tourism operators cautiously predict weekend occupancy could rise to 30% if the highway remains stable. It’s a fragile optimism, but optimism nonetheless.

For now, the echo of a bus horn rolling through Manali’s valley carries a deeper resonance. It’s not just the sound of returning traffic. It’s the sound of resilience, of livelihoods inching back and of hope refusing to be washed away.