To attract tourists, Himachal mulls introducing shikaras, houseboats

Himachal Tourism’s proposal to start cruise, houseboats and shikaras at the Maharana Pratap Sagar (Pong Dam) in Kangra district on the analogy of Kashmir’s Dal Lake might become a major tourist attraction in north India, says director, tourism, Amit Kashyap

To compete with water tourism in Kashmir, the Himachal Pradesh government is contemplating to introduce shikaras, houseboats and cruise boats in its major water bodies which are mainly the reservoirs of the hydropower projects, besides promoting the water sports.

To compete with water tourism in Kashmir, the Himachal Pradesh government is contemplating to introduce shikaras, houseboats and cruise boats in its major water bodies which are mainly the reservoirs of the hydropower projects, besides promoting the water sports. (ANI File Photo)

The Himachal Pradesh government has approached the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to allow setting up tourism infrastructure along the water bodies.

The NTPC operates of 300-megawatt Kol Dam Hydroproject while the BBMB operates Bhakra Power Project and Pong Dam project.

Himachal Tourism’s proposal to start cruise, houseboats and shikaras at the Maharana Pratap Sagar (Pong Dam) in Kangra district on the analogy of Kashmir’s Dal Lake might become a major tourist attraction in north India, says director, tourism, Amit Kashyap, who is also the managing director of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC).

Kashyap said that chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had recently asked the officers to prepare a new policy to promote Chamera, Pong, Bhakra and Koldam from a tourism point of view.

The tourism department is working on a new scheme under which the department will soon run houseboats and high-end cruises in Chamera, Pong, Bhakra and Koldam.

He said that the department also intends to develop Tattapani, known for its hot springs, as a tourist destination.

“The tourism department has tied up with the Goa tourism which will share its expertise for development of the lake tourism at Tattapani and also at Pandoh. Team of the officials from the Goa tourism department had recently toured the Tattapani to explore its potential,” said Kashyap.

Apart from this, the tourism department has also approached the Kerala tourism to develop tourism infrastructure along its major water bodies, he said.

It is worth mentioning that tourism constitutes 7% of Himachal’s GDP, 14.42% of direct and indirect employment to the total employment in the state.

Despite its vast potential, the state does not figure among the top 10 tourist destination states for domestic well as foreign tourist arrivals, as per the statistics released by the ministry of tourism, Government of India, in 2022.

To develop new tourist destinations, the state government had implemented a new scheme “Nai Rahein Nai Manzilein” in the year 2018-19 to develop the unexplored areas of the state from tourism point of view.

Under this scheme, a budget of ₹250 crore each was allocated for tourism development in 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Apart from developing paragliding Destination at Bir Billing, Chanshal valley as a ski destination and Janjehli in Mandi from eco-tourism point of view, the government envisaged developing infrastructure and promotion of water sports activities at Larji, Tattapani and Pong Dam and other tourism activities along these water bodies.

The tourism and hospitality sector, aviation and tourism were the first industries that were hit significantly by the pandemic. The sector that has contributed to a large portion of India’s annual GDP has been hit hard by restrictions and curfews imposed by the states.

Tourism remains the main source of revenue generation and employment in the state. The Covid-19-induced lockdown had badly hit tourism in the state.

The geographical advantages place the state at win-win situation for tourism sector, but there was a huge decrease in the tourist arrival when restrictions on movements were imposed in view of Covid-19 pandemic. Tourist arrival is one of the main indicators of the demand for tourism in a particular destination

After Covid-19, the domestic tourist arrivals have increased from 32.13 lakh in 2020 to 56.37 lakh in 2021 lakh and further to 1.50 crore in 2022 in absolute terms. It shows that the tourist arrivals are reaching to the pre-pandemic levels. The need of the hour, given our fragile ecosystem, is to ensure that this growth continues in a sustainable manner.