Destination Himachal for holidayers

It's holiday season, with hordes of tourists thronging the cool resorts in Himachal Pradesh, to escape the searing heat of the plains.

"Major resorts like Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala, Dalhousie, Chail, Kasauli, Kufri, including smaller resorts, are reporting a heavy tourist rush, with over 80 per cent occupancy (in hotels) during the past few days," said Manoj Sharma, deputy director, state tourism department.

"This includes the state-run Himachal Pradesh Tourism Corporation(HPTDC)properties and hundreds of other hotels and guest houses. The peak tourist season is expected to continue till the arrival of the monsoon season," Sharma told Business Standard.

With the onset of the monsoon season late by a week, it could still take around three weeks more for the rains to arrive. Some of the travel agents in the state estimate a higher occupancy rate of over 90 per cent in most of such resorts.

The HPTDC has over 60 properties (hotels) in prime locations across the hill state. But the privately-run properties are ruling the roost nowadays, with most of them housing the bulk of the holiday-makers.

The tourists inflow is from all parts of the country including southern and eastern India, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and nearby Punjab and Haryana.

The hill state's top two resorts Shimla and Manali alone include around a thousand hotels and guest houses and are are currently bursting with visitors.

During the recently-concluded week-long Shimla summer festival, the festivities continued into the wee hours in downtown Shimla. Most of the city restaurants are also doing a roaring business.

Some of the hotels and taxis have also been accused of overcharging and trying to cash in on the large tourist inflow from the plains.