After three months of slowdown in tourism industry of Manali, over 1.5 lakh weddings in country only in three days have brought cheer to hoteliers who are getting good bookings for honeymoon tours for next month.
alone is hosting over 25 thousand marriages. According to sources, about 10
lakh couples from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat
have tied knots in November and a large part of them is expected to visit Manali for their honeymoon in December. Most of the office goers plan their honeymoon during Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Hoteliers are confident that all 20,018 rooms of 610 registered hotels would remain fully
occupied for two weeks after December 20. According to them, nearly 300 couples
are visiting Manali everyday and the number is increasing regularly. Though
number of newlyweds visiting Manali in November is nearly 50% less than the
last year but thousands of inquiries are pouring in for December.
advertisements, discounts up to 50% and many free services are being offered to
attract more and more newlyweds. Marketing manager of hotel Chander Palace, Ankush
Bhardwaj, said thousands of marriages are going to pay off in December as
inquiries have gone up by 50%. “We are expecting full occupancy after December
20,” he said.
Ravi Thakur, owner of The Manali Lodge, said all the inquiries he gets are for honeymoon
tours and most of the customers are from Delhi. “This time Kashmir is our
competitor but marriages too are more than that in last years’. No doubt honeymoon season would heal our wounds that we had in three months.”
want to make their tour even romantic with fresh snow. “Honeymooners are asking
for status of snowfall in Kashmir, Manali and Shimla. They ask for possibility
of snowfall during their visit and most of them want to visit the hill station
where possibilities are maximum,” a travel agent, Vicky Ahuja, said.
Meanwhile, hotels in Manali are preparing for bonfires, couple games and discos to
entertain the expected honeymooners. Manali police are also preparing to tackle
the increased traffic during Christmas and New Year week.
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