Manali hoteliers rue poor tourist footfall during Kullu Dasehra fest

Dipender Manta

Mandi, October 31

Hoteliers of Manali are distraught as the tourist footfall during the Dasehra festival in Kullu was quite low this year as compared to previous years. They say usually during the week-long Dasehra festival at Dhalpur ground in Kullu, room occupancy in the hotels of Manali was around 80 per cent but it was merely 20 per cent this year.

Hem Raj Sharma, a hotelier of Manali, says, “Tourist arrival in Manali has been negligible after the rain disaster. We were expecting good business during the Dasehra festival but were disappointed.”

Anup Thakur, president of the Kullu-Manali Prayatan Vikas Mandal, says, “Generally, Manali witnesses a significant rise in tourist influx during Dasehra every year and room occupancy in hotels goes up to 80 per cent but this year it was disappointing and there is hardly 20 per cent room occupancy in the hotels. Due to the slump in the tourism industry, taxi operators and other tourism stakeholders of Manali are in distress.”

Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, says, “Hoteliers have suffered a setback due to exorbitant taxes on commercial vehicles carrying tourists entering the state. Their impact was seen during the Dasehra festival.”

He adds, “We wrote a letter to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and urged him that at a time when we should welcome tourists with open arms, the imposition of taxes is not a wise decision.”