Shimla fails to woo tourists on New Year's Eve, records lowest occupancy in 40 years

livemint.com:

Shimla had recorded more than 80 per cent occupancy on New Year. The hotel and allied industries were pinning hopes on 'white New Year' but chances of snowfall appear very bleak.

While, the Mall Road and The Ridge in the heart of the city are abuzz with tourists as winter carnival turned the place into a fair with lights and cultural bonanza being organised but tourist footfall has not converted in room occupancy in hotels, said Shimla Hotel and Tourism Stakeholders Association president M K Seth. The occupancy is about 50-60 per cent which is the lowest in the last 40 years and even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourist rush on New Year was more than this time, he told the PTI.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had directed to follow the slogan of 'Atithi Devo Bhava', facilitate the tourists and make adequate arrangements and proper plans in all districts for smooth flow of traffic. Besides allowing food joints and pan shops to remain open 24x7, he had said that drunk tourists would not be arrested, but would be facilitated by the police to their hotels to ensure that their New Year experience is not spoiled.

The unregistered tourism units are eating into the sales of registered hotels, home stays and other such accommodations, said Seth adding that the tourists coming by train and luxury buses are "captured" by touts which take them to unregistered accommodations. "We are surprised to see such a drop in tourist inflow when all the things are favourable.

This is the lowest occupancy in my living memory" said vice president of the association Prince Kukreja, hoping that the occupancy would pick up by late evening. A large number of tourists prefer isolated accommodations in the suburbs with