Tourist arrivals likely to touch pre-Covid level in Himachal

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, November 21

The tourism sector is coming out of the shadow of Covid. Tourist arrivals in Himachal Pradesh this year are likely to be close to the annual average of 1.70 crore as registered before the pandemic breakout.

As per the data compiled by the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, a total of 1.27 crore tourists had visited the state up to October 31 this year. However, merely 23,283 foreigners visited the state.

The highest number of 7,511foreign tourists visited Shimla, followed by 4,693 (Kangra), 3,736 (Lahaul and Spiti) and 3,486 (Kullu). In 2019, a total of 3.82 lakh foreign tourists had visited the state while in 2018, 3.56 lakh had come to Himachal, so their arrival is yet to pick up this year.

In 2019, 1.72 crore tourists had visited Himachal. However, their number had dipped to 32.13 lakh in 2020, owing to Covid outbreak, as all kinds of travel, both national and international, had come to a virtual halt. In 2021, the situation improved slightly and 56.37 lakh tourists visited the state. This year, 1.27 crore tourists have already visited the state and a heavy rush is expected around Christmas and New Year eve. The number can rise to around 1.70 lakh, a normal trend for the state.

Amit Kashyap, Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation, says, “It is because of aggressive marketing and participation in various tourism marts across the country that the tourist arrivals in the state are normalizing.”

He adds that the department had specially focused on advertising in Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka and Kerala, from where an appreciable number of tourists visit the state for long holidays every year.

The Tourism Department had even advertised in vernacular media, both print and electronic, in these states to invite tourists to experience the beauty of Himachal. Advertisements of Himachal tourism were put up at bus stands, railway stations and in aircraft to attract both high end as well as normal visitors, says Kashyap.

The Tourism Department has made a lot of efforts to attract tourists by promoting the state as an ideal place for destination weddings at its properties like Palace Hotel, Chail. Besides, the department has renovated and provided more accommodation and facilities at some of its popular destinations like Kasauli and Kiarighat on the Shimla-Solan highway.

The tourism sector is likely to get a boost as Air Alliance has restarted flights from the Jubbarhatti airport, near Shimla city. There are plans to start flights from the state capital to Kullu and Dharamsala in near future.