After monsoon slump, HP hoteliers pin hopes on snow season, year-end festivities
In July, the hotel occupancy on weekdays had gone down to 20-25% and while it hovered around 40% on weekends, much lower than the usual 80% witnessed in June
After a slowdown during the monsoon season, the tourism industry in Himachal is anticipating a rise in the number of visitors to the state and the hotel occupancy is also expected to increase.
Hotel occupancy rates in October were slightly higher compared to the monsoon months, and hoteliers expect them to increase further in November and peak during the final days of December.
The onset of monsoon in June had brought with it a decline in tourist arrivals, with hotel occupancy rates dropping significantly. In July, the hotel occupancy on weekdays had gone down to 20-25% and while it hovered around 40% on weekends, much lower than the usual 80% witnessed in June.
Dharamshala Hotel Association president Ashwani Bamba said tourists from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and NCR, travel to Himachal after Diwali. “The hotel occupancy in Dharamshala was around 20-25% in October and it is expected to increase to around 60% till November 20. In the coming days of November, we expect the hotel occupancy to remain around 60% on weekends and around 40-50% on weekdays,” he said.
Bamba added that the occupancy will also be on a higher side between December 20 till January first week due to Christmas and New Year celebrations.
In Kullu-Manali, the tourist footfall is also expected to increase with snowfall which usually happens by the end of November or in the early days of December. Kullu-Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal president Anup Thakur said that the tourist footfall in Manali mostly depends on the snowfall. “There is still a slowdown but whenever the snowfall happens, which we expect by the end of this month, we will see the increase in the number of tourist arrivals. The average hotel occupancy is around 30-40% at present but with the snowfall it will get a boost. If snowfall happens, the occupancy is expected to reach 50-60%,” he said.
Meanwhile, Varun Thakur, Kangra district president of the Joint Action Committee of the All Himachal Taxi Association, said, “Since the Covid-19 pandemic, tourists from Gujarat and West Bengal had not been visiting during this season, which was typically a regular occurrence before.”
He, however, remained hopeful with a few odd tourists returning to the old patterns this year, saying, “We expect that their numbers will increase this month. We expect good business this season.”