Hoteliers bank on clean air in hills, snowfall for spike in tourist footfall

Following a massive spike in air pollution in the plains during the festival of lights, hoteliers and home stay owners are expecting an increased tourist footfall at hill stations like Shimla and Manali. In addition to much cleaner air, early snowfall in Lahaul and Spiti and Rohtang will further encourage tourists to escape from the polluted cities.

“We already have a good tourist flow at the moment. The high pollution levels in most cities in North India will encourage people to escape to places with clean air at least for a few days,” said Anoop Thakur, a Manali hotelier. “Besides, we’ve had early snowfall this year. Snow is available not only at Rohtang but at lower-altitude places as well. The combination of clean air and snow is likely to draw a lot of tourists to the hills station,” said Thakur.

The hoteliers in Shimla, too, are expecting a rise in occupancy rate on account of spike in air pollution in most cities in the neighbouring states. “We are already getting tourists from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The arrival is likely to go up over the next few days,” said Mohinder Seth, president, Shimla Hotels and Tourism Stakeholders Association. “There’s a possibility of a good snowfall this year. If we have an early or a timely snowfall this year, the city will see good tourist footfall,” said Seth. The snowfall over the last few years has been scanty in and around the city, which affected the tourist arrival.

Sohan Thakur, who runs a home stray in a village about 30km from Shimla, points out that roads leading to home stays in villages are in poor condition and need immediate repair. “Good roads are essential for tourists to reach home stays in distant villages. If we don’t have this basic infrastructure, tourists will go elsewhere. The government must address the problem at the earliest,” he said.

Incidentally, the Air Quality Index (AQI) number did not rise much in Shimla and Manali this Diwali. At both tourist destinations, the air pollution was ‘satisfactory’ on Diwali. The AQI slipped back to ‘good’ in Manali a day after Diwali, while the AQI in Shimla is just on the brink of slipping back into the ‘good’ category.

Himachal Tribune