Rain, flood hit tourism sector in Himachal

Rains and floods in tribal Kinnaur district and massive devastation in neighbouring Uttarakhand in the June deluge hit the state's tourism industry in 2013 and tourist inflow dropped by 6.30 per cent as compared to 2012.
As per the data compiled by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department, the number of tourist dropped from 1,61,46,332 in 2012 to 1,51,29,835 in 2013, while the number of foreign tourists dwindled from 5,00,284 to 4,14,249, a drop of 15.3 per cent during the same period.
The number of domestic tourist was also down to 1,47,15,586 in 2013 from 1,56,46,048 in 2012.
The twin tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti felt the heat more due to dislocation of normal life following floods and excessive rains, and only 1,26,460 visited the district in 2013 as against 4,60,194 in 2012, while 1,19,623 tourists visited Lahaul and Spiti in 2013, compared to 4,44,075 in 2012.

In Kullu Manali area also, the tourist arrival fell from 33,26,445 to 28,86,050.
Shimla district recorded the highest number of 31,56,997 tourists including 1,64,006 foreigners but it was lower than last year's figures when 33,54,003 tourists including 1,58,671 foreigners visited the district.

Normally, maximum number of tourists visit the state during the month of June and 19,62,793 tourists had visited the state during June in 2012 but due to early rains and floods in 2013 only 12,18,519 visited the state in June.
In contrast, the tourist arrival was more in April (18,21,973) and May (18,04,508) as compared to the peak season of June and July.

As many as 22,00,623 tourists including 1,02,595 foreigners visited the largest district of Kangra, known for seat of Dali Lama and number of famous Devi shrines while 11,86,084 tourists visited the adjoining district of Una famous for Chintpurni shrine.
The tourist arrival started picking up in the state from 2004 onwards and reached 1,14,37,155, including 5,00,583 foreigners, breaching the 1-crore mark for the first time in 2009.
The rising trend continued in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when 1,32,65,602, 1,50,89,406 and 1,61,46,332 tourists visited the state respectively but the natural calamities reversed the trend in 2013 and tourist arrival dropped to 1,51,29,835.