Tourism in Manali Has Suddenly Dipped In The Peak Season Of June

Tag : trekking, travel, Rohtang Pass, India, travelling, Manali, Himachal Pradesh

 9^th June - Manali is one of the major tourist destinations in India. It is all time favorite for the tourists in the summer season when they desperately want to escape the scorching heat of the sun. May and June are the peak months with the highest number of tourists. Every single hotel is pre booked and the rates everywhere are skyrocketing.

But, Hoteliers in Manali are surprised to see the sudden dip in tourist coming. Despite being a tourist season, hotel occupancy rate has suddenly dipped by 10% in just 3 days. There are a few valid reasons behind this dip. The taxi rates has got extremely high, sometimes for some destinations the taxes are not even available. Some Tourist activities have been restricted. And one of the major reason being, permissions of taxi’s going to Rohtang pass has been limited. Many tourists are even returning home without sightseeing due to unaffordable taxi charges and restrictions in tourist activities. It seems that the money spent is not fetching its right worth to the tourists.

Pic Credit: Suresh Kumar‎

"Nobody cares for tourism any more. Many people are looting tourists and the local authorities are watching helplessly. Complete sightseeing of Kullu-Manali was possible for Rs 4,000 until April and now, one has to shell out more than Rs 15,000 for the same. It is not good for the future of tourism in Manali," said Rakesh Thakur, owner of Hotel Beas Vatika.

Some sources suggest that the tourists are not getting taxis to various places like Ladakh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dharamshala, Shimla and other destinations. The local cabs are charging higher than the approved rates and are earning good money. Taxis are not the only faulty ones. Some hoteliers and travel agents are also taking advantage of it to earn quick money. This has resulted in the decline number of tourists at a time when the hotels remain fully occupied from June 1-25. The tourist destinations desperately need a master plan to keep attracting the tourists.

"We are observing fall in tourist arrival in the last few days. The hotel occupancy rate has decreased. It is high time that we open some new destinations for the tourists. We have many sites that are more beautiful than Rohtang. All we need is the government's intervention and interest," said Anup Ram Thakur, president of Manali Hoteliers' Association.

Source - TOI

1895Views