Himachal Pradesh: Tourists throng Shimla on weekend

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 9 (ANI): Tourists have rushed to Himachal Pradesh’s capital city Shimla on the weekend. The pleasant weather conditions have been drawing the attention of visitors from across different parts.

All the tourism stakeholders are expecting tourism to see a boost as the people flocking to Shimla are huge in number.

A tourist from Bengaluru, Abhishek Tiwari shared his experience saying, “It feels very good here, the weather is pleasant. It’s neither hot nor cold. It is clean. You need to come here on weekends or holidays. You need two days to explore the city.”

Another tourist from Bengaluru, Pooja expressed her happiness saying, “The tourists are happy to be here in the beautiful mountains of the Himalayan region in the city. It is good to be here. I discovered it is a very nice place. The mountains and houses are beautiful here. I thought it would be cold but it is comfortable here.”

Gulab Singh, a local travel agent shared that the local people involved in the tourism and travel business are hoping for a good business.

“The weekend tourist rush is benefiting the business. We are expecting to have a good business. We got badly hit by the inflation. The city did not get much snowfall this year. In Narkanda and Kufri we have snow and we hope more tourists will come on weekends and holidays,” said Gulab Singh.

Earlier in February, thousands of tourists thronged Kufri and also the highest Mahsu Peak, which is situated at an altitude of 9500 feet above sea level.

As per the data from the State Tourism Department, nearly 17,20,000 tourists thronged the state in 2019, including 4,00,000 foreign tourists, a jump of nearly 5 per cent in comparison to the year 2018.

It is noteworthy that the tourism sector is the backbone of the economy in the state, which approximately contributes to 7.3 per cent of the state GDP.