Atal Tunnel jacks up tourist inflow to Lahaul-Spiti by 622%

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, February 7

The Atal Tunnel in Rohtang has proved to be a boon for the tourism industry in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. The tourist arrival has jumped from 1,32,983 in 2019 to 9,60,952 in 2021, a massive rise of 622.6 per cent.

The tunnel was thrown open to the public on October 3, 2020. However, Lahaul-Spiti’s gain is a loss for Kullu-Manali, which saw a sharp decline in tourist arrival from 31,59,411 in 2019 to 16,47,581 in 2021.

Reeling under Covid, Himachal’s tourism industry is on the recovery path with the tourist inflow registering an increase of 75.43 per cent in 2021 as compared to the preceding year. The arrival of foreign tourists, however, witnessed a sharp decline of 88.67 per cent.

The increase in the number of tourists in 2021 could be attributed to the easing of Covid curbs, opening of the Atal Tunnel, reopening of hotels and over half-dozen snow spells at major tourist destinations, besides new marketing strategies adopted by the Tourism Department, said Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Amit Kashyap.

The maximum 9,25,216 tourists arrived in July last year and the lowest 51,243 in May. Kullu district saw the highest domestic tourist footfall of 16,47,329.

The foreign tourist arrival was nil in Bilaspur and Una districts while one foreign tourist visited Hamirpur and 28 arrived in Sirmaur district. The maximum 2,701 visited Kangra district, followed by Shimla (825) and Lahaul-Spiti (420).

The overall tourist arrival in 2021 was 56,37,102, including 56,32,270 domestic and 4,832 foreign, against 1,72,12,107 in 2019, down 66.6 per cent as compared to the pre-Covid period. The tourist arrival touched

rock bottom in 2020 as it fell to 32,13,379, a massive decline of 81.4 per cent, according to the data provided by the department.