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Major tourist destinations like Kullu, Manali, Lahaul and Spiti have been hit by heavy rains and subsequent floods. (photo: AP/file)
HPTDC said the off-season discount was introduced earlier rather than the end of August due to heavy rain and low occupancy at the company-operated hotels.
The Himachal Pradesh government’s tourism corporation is offering 50 percent discount on room charges in all its hotels until September 15. With the state affected by heavy rains affecting the tourism industry and the off-season about to begin, the state government is offering this massive discount to accommodate tourists and increase occupancy at its highly sought after properties.
Officials from the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) said that the discount was offered due to heavy rains in the state. The company said it would take effect immediately. During normal times, the off-season discount comes into effect from the end of August, but the decision to introduce it earlier was taken to help the affected tourism sector.
The state’s tourism industry took the hardest hit due to heavy rains and subsequent flooding, while hotels reported a sharp decline in occupancy. The state government has estimated the total losses to be in excess of Rs 5,000 crore.
The industry is also considering seeking tax cuts and other perks to offset the losses. Kullu and Manali hotel association members are considering approaching the state government to announce incentives to get the industry back on track.
The constant rains didn’t help the cause of the industry either. In another tourist destination in Rohru, large parts of the district are cut off from the rest of the state. Even orchards in some parts were washed away by flash floods.
Tourism in major destinations like Kullu, Manali, Lahaul and Spiti has also been hurt, especially at a time when the sector was upbeat recording an all-time high tourist footfall of Rs 1.06 crore in the first six months of the year. The number of tourist arrivals during the first six months, through June 30, exceeded all previous records.
This was a huge jump from the nearly 86,000 tourists who signed up in the same time frame last year. Not only the popular destinations, but the unexplored regions of the tribal areas of Lahaul have been receiving a large number of travellers.
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