A snowless winter dampens spirits at India's tourist hotspots
Srinagar, Manali, Dalhousie, Shimla, Nainital, and Mussoorie, are experiencing an unusually snowless winter. This has dampened the spirits of the tourism industry which relies heavily on winter tourism.
The absence of snowfall this season has led to reported cancellations of bookings by tourists, unleashing a gloomy period for tour operators and travel service providers who enjoyed record arrivals after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
Bollywood film shoots have also been put on hold while skiing enthusiasts have cancelled trips.
“There was a bit of snowfall in Gulmarg for about five to six days in November last year, but since then, there has been nothing. Tourists have been asking to reschedule trips as there is no snow.
There is 80% less work compared to last year this time around,” said Ishfaq Ahmed Resha, a tour operator in Srinagar.
Anup Thakur, president of Kullu Manali Paryatan Vikas Mandal, termed the impact as ‘severe.’
“Normally, in Manali, we have about 80% tourists in January. Because of no snow, that number might have come down to about 30% this year.
Snow is a major attraction for film shoots as well. We are hoping for some snowfall by the first week of February,” he added.
Mukhtar Ahmad from the India Meteorological Department, Srinagar, said while there have been intermittent dry spells in the valley in the last few years, this year, there has been an extremely long dry spell with temperatures at least 6-8 degrees Celsius above the normal in all the weather monitoring stations in the region.
