7.4 mn tourists visit HP till May, hike by 3.5%; Solan surpasses Shimla

With over 7.4 million tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh till May this year, the tourist footfall has increased marginally by 3.5 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year.

A total of 7,464,184 tourists including 32,415 foreign tourists visited the state till May end as compared to 7,202,956 tourists including 23,174 foreign tourists in the same period last year, an increase of 3.5 per cent, said Tourism and Civil Aviation Director Manasi Sahay Thakur.

"Efforts are afoot to improve inter and intra state connectivity through construction of heliports. Major focus is on infrastructure development like creating wayside amenities besides opening wellness centres, construction of ice skating rinks, promoting eco and adventure tourism with the funding of Asian development Bank (ADB)," she told the PTI.

Private players are also engaged in advance to ensure sustainability of tourism projects and the results will be visible in the next three years, she added.

Surprisingly, tourist inflow in Solan district has surpassed Shimla. According to the data, maximum tourists visited Kullu (1,497,920) followed by Solan (1,041,074) and Shimla (999,065).

"Kasauli and Chail are most sought after destinations in Solan district and the tourism department has put new destinations on tourism maps like Reva water fall in Solan. People are preferring approachable destinations at short distance," Thakur said.

Options of home stays have increased near the main tourist destinations. The Kandaghat-Sadhupul area has also emerged as a tourist hotspot, say tourism officials, adding that Solan, being close to Haryana, Chandigarh and Punjab, has witnessed decent tourist inflow so far this year.

Tourists visit Himachal round the year as tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur attract people for its scenic beauty, snow-clad mountains and unexplored tracks. Dharamsala is the abode of Tibetan Guru Dalai Lama.

Shimla is famous for being "queen of hills", reminiscent of British architecture, and Kullu-Manali for snow and adventure sports.

Moreover, there is perennial flow of tourists to "Shakti Peeths" in Kangra, Bilaspur, Una, Simaur and Mandi, known as "Chhoti Kashi" for ancient Shiv temples.

The foreign tourists and adventure lovers are attracted to the virgin areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti and Chamba.