If you are in party or holiday mood to celebrate Christmas and New Year Eve with your family or friends, but you are not able to decide on a location to chill, you should just pack your bags and head to the Himachal where you can choose one of the dozens of beautiful locations that are ready to host you for the holiday season. With all tourist destinations of Himachal expected to remain jam-packed from December 24 to January 1 during Christmas and New Year Eve, the state is gearing up to welcome guests from all around the country. Most hotels are booked completely in advance and taxis and tourist buses are in huge demand these days. The hotel occupancy has already reached close to 40 per cent which is expected to remain above 75 per cent from December 24 onwards. Most of the good hotels in Manali, Shimla, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, Kasauli, Kasol and other popular tourist places are already booked till the new year. New tourist destination Lahaul valley has also good booking. Over one hundred luxury tourist buses from Delhi are reaching Himachal every day besides taxis and private cars. Given the current booking trends, hoteliers are expecting record tourist footfall. While increasing cases of Covid-19 is a matter of concern, the possibility of fresh snowfall after Christmas may help in increasing the footfall. A fresh wave of western disturbance is expected to hit the western Himalayas from December 25 onwards. Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, said, tourist footfall in the state is increasing as tourists are heading to the hills in the holiday mood. “The peak tourist season will be from December 24 to January 1. Hotels are reporting good bookings. However, some hotels have average bookings. No snowfall in the last
If you are in party or holiday mood to celebrate Christmas and New Year Eve with your family or friends, but you are not able to decide on a location to chill, you should just pack your bags and head to the Himachal where you can choose one of the dozens of beautiful locations that
On this page, we shall keep you updated about the latest Himachal Tourism trends, Himachal Tourism news, views from hoteliers and travel agents and tour guides and packages of Himachal Pradesh. 2,000 tourists stranded in 500 vehicles rescued from Atal tunnel Updated on December 30, 2022 Nearly 500 vehicles carrying over 2,000 tourists that were stranded at Atal tunnel following snowfall were rescued in the late night operations that lasted for eight hours from 5pm to 1am on Thursday. A large number of tourist vehicles were stranded at both south and north portals of Atal tunnel following snowfall which made the road slippery on Thursday afternoon. While vehicles from north side were sent towards south side, vehicles started skidding on the steep road between the tunnel and Dhundi nullah, causing a long traffic jam. The vehicles eventually got stuck. Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti police helped the tourists and drivers in getting their vehicles to safe places. The last vehicle was sent towards Solang valley at about 1am. As many as 5,640 vehicles carrying tourists had entered Lahaul valley from Manali via Atal tunnel on Thursday to see snow and snowfall. 5,548 vehicles exited the tunnel towards Manali from Thursday 8am to Friday 8am. As the snow started accumulating on the road surface, vehicles started skidding and it became very difficult to drive by late evening. While some people, mostly local taxi drivers, managed to negotiate through the steep curves between the tunnel and Dhundi nullah, hundreds of other vehicles got stuck when many vehicles skid on the road and jammed it. Although the administration stopped traffic towards Atal tunnel, it was already too late. Lahaul-Spiti police started sending vehicles from Lahaul towards Manali. However, they could not move ahead due to traffic congestion at south portal of the tunnel where cops
On this page, we shall keep you updated about the latest Himachal Tourism trends, Himachal Tourism news, views from hoteliers and travel agents and tour guides and packages of Himachal Pradesh. 2,000 tourists stranded in 500 vehicles rescued from Atal tunnel Updated on December 30, 2022 Nearly 500 vehicles carrying over 2,000 tourists that were
The farmers’ protests at Delhi borders have now started badly impacting the tourism in Himachal Pradesh where hotel booking cancellations have continued and tourists are clueless about whether they should plan their holiday trip or they should wait for few more days. Tourism in Himachal is already struggling to come back on track. According to hoteliers, the recent order of imposing night curfew in Shimla, Kangra, Mandi and Kullu-Manali has played spoilsport for the industry. Now tourists have started to cancel their bookings following farmers’ protests that are leading to blockade of major roads from Delhi. “Nothing is good with tourism in Himachal. After Covid-19, imposing ban on plying of AC tourist buses and imposing night curfew, the protests by farmers is all set to destroy the tourism,” Himachal Travel Agents Association president Budhi Parkash said. “Neither we oppose nor do we support these protests but we are worried for our business which is worse impacted since March this year. Tourists look for a pleasant and worry-free environment to enjoy their holiday trip. Most tourists are not able to decide if they should plan their trip or not,” he added. The average hotel occupancy in Manali, Shimla, Dalhousie and Dharamshala is 15 to 20 per cent. The hotels have reported a large number of cancellations due to night curfew and farmers’ protests. The festive season, which used to attract thousands of tourists to Himachal in October and November, has been worst in terms of business. Hoteliers are now hoping for good business in Christmas and New Year Eve. However, many hoteliers and tour planners have left expecting anymore from this pandemic year. Hotelier Ritesh Sood said the word “night curfew” has spread panic among tourists who think this is not the right time to visit Himachal. “Nobody in Himachal remains outside
The farmers’ protests at Delhi borders have now started badly impacting the tourism in Himachal Pradesh where hotel booking cancellations have continued and tourists are clueless about whether they should plan their holiday trip or they should wait for few more days. Tourism in Himachal is already struggling to come back on track. According to
The World Tourism Day 2019 was celebrated across Himachal Pradesh by welcoming tourists at bus stations, airports and hotels by offering them flower garlands, bouquets, Himachali caps and mufflers. The tourists were taken for a surprise after they received such unexpected welcome everywhere. Private hotels also welcomed tourists in traditional style. Special cultural programmes ere organized in the hotels. Some hotels even offered special discount on room tariff. This year the theme of the World Tourism Day is “Tourism and jobs: a better future for all” and India is a hosting country. As chief minister Jai Ram Thakur could not attend the seminar on WTD in Delhi, forest and transport minister Govind Singh Thakur represented Himachal. The CM attended Himachal Apple Festival – 2019 at Gaiety Theatre in Shimla. The festival is organized jointly by tourism and horticulture departments. The CM said that on the occasion of World Tourism Day, the tourism department has adopted “Himachal Apple Festival” as theme which shows the importance of apple in the economy of the state. He said apple cultivation and apple orchards could prove an added attraction to tourists visiting the state. “The horticulturists of Himachal are adopting latest technologies which are proving a boon to them as they are getting good prices for their produce. The apple growers should also go for latest varieties of apple to compete with the apple coming from other parts of the country and abroad,” he said. The CM crowned Shivankita Kanwar as Apple Prince, Deepanshi Thakur as Apple Princess, Yogesh as Apple King and Vanshika Katoch as Apple Queen on this occasion. He then cut a biggest apple cake, measuring 4.5ftX3.5ft and weighing over 200kg, prepared by tourism department alongwith Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Kufri. The cake has entered into the India Book
The World Tourism Day 2019 was celebrated across Himachal Pradesh by welcoming tourists at bus stations, airports and hotels by offering them flower garlands, bouquets, Himachali caps and mufflers. The tourists were taken for a surprise after they received such unexpected welcome everywhere. Private hotels also welcomed tourists in traditional style. Special cultural programmes ere
Bollywood star Sunny Deol’s dream project “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” featuring his son Karan Deol is set to showcase entire Manali, the adventure sports, its people, local artists, and the scenic beauty on the silver screen globally on September 20. While the movie has provided a platform to the local actors, Himachal is expecting a boom in the tourism industry. Sunny, who has been planning to set up a film city in Manali and has close relation with the local people, had committed to make a big-budget Bollywood movie totally based in Manali. From the lead roles to supporting actors, most of the star cast of Sunny directed PPDKP is from Himachal, particularly from Manali. As the theme of the movie is based on adventure sports of Manali that brings Karan close to lead actress Sahher Bambba, the state is expecting a boom in the tourism industry after the release of the film. Sunny has chosen lead actress Sahher Bambba from Himachal. However, according to Sunny, auditions for hunt for lead actress took place in many cities and he did not know that the girl belongs to Himachal until Sahher Bambba was shortlisted. The second lead role is performed by Manali girl Ritika Thakur. Kapil Negi, who runs an adventure travel company in Manali, is also in a major role who is a friend of Karan’s father and later his mentor after his father’s death. A large portion of the film is shot at Shaleen village near Manali and Sunny has given the opportunity to a large number of villagers to show their acting skills. Himachali song “Mera Bhola Hai Bhandari” fame Hansraj Raghuvanshi is given the opportunity to sing “Adha Bhi Jyada” song of the movie. The viewers of the movie will hear a large number of Kulluvi words
Bollywood star Sunny Deol’s dream project “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” featuring his son Karan Deol is set to showcase entire Manali, the adventure sports, its people, local artists, and the scenic beauty on the silver screen globally on September 20. While the movie has provided a platform to the local actors, Himachal is expecting
With aim to establish Himachal Pradesh as a model state for electric vehicle adoption and to provide sustainable, safe, eco-friendly, inclusive and integrated mobility, the state on Wednesday held a meeting regarding framing of the draft for Himachal Pradesh Electric Vehicle Policy – 2019. The meeting was held under chairmanship of chief secretary Dr Shrikant Baldi. He said the policy is targeted to achieve 100 per cent transition to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 in alignment with United Nation’s sustainable development goals and vision of government of India. He said main objective of the policy is to save environment, accelerate demand for EVs, promote sustainable transport system and to create public private charging infrastructure. “Policy is being framed to create a conductive atmosphere for shift from internal combustion engines to EVs. It will encourage use of hybrid electric vehicles by the government entities during transition period and will create new employment opportunities. The policy would promote the adoption of EV technology by way of providing fiscal and non fiscal incentives. It would promote creation of dedicated infrastructure for charging of EVs through various incentives as per standards notified for public charging infrastructure by Ministry of Power, government of India guidelines,” Baldi said. He added that a viable business model will be developed for private players to set up EV charging stations and infrastructure. The policy has provision to set up charging spots in commercial buildings like hotels and shopping malls. If vehicle is charged at domestic user facility, domestic rate of electricity would be charged across the state. “Non domestic, non commercial” rate would be applicable in public charging facility and commercial charging stations. The policy suggests that the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission shall be the final authority to determine the rat of electrical power to EV charging stations.
With aim to establish Himachal Pradesh as a model state for electric vehicle adoption and to provide sustainable, safe, eco-friendly, inclusive and integrated mobility, the state on Wednesday held a meeting regarding framing of the draft for Himachal Pradesh Electric Vehicle Policy – 2019. The meeting was held under chairmanship of chief secretary Dr Shrikant
