SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh's popular tourist resorts like Narkanda, Manali and Dalhousie are still wrapped up in a blanket of white, with this week's snowfall turning most of the hill stations more picturesque and chock-a-block with New Year's Eve revellers. However, the Met Office in Shimla on Wednesday predicted the sun will shine across the state till January 3 with chances of snow at some places thereafter.
But the current minimum temperature in most of the places stayed close to sub-zero. Hospitality industry representatives say December 28 snowfall has turned their business bountiful with sudden spike in tourist footfall.
Narkanda, the heart of the apple belt some 65km from the state capital, and the popular tourist resorts Manali and Dalhousie have plenty of snow cover.
"Most of the hotels in Manali and its nearby places have been sold out till January 6," Anoop Thakur, Manali Hoteliers Association President, told IANS.
Snow is the main attraction for the tourists. "Manali has a plenty of snow where the tourists are enjoying hurling snowball at one another," he said.
According to Thakur, no less than 1,500 hotels, lodges and home-stay accommodations in and around Manali had witnessed a downturn since the coronavirus pandemic hit in the late March. "Most of the hoteliers are back to business after a long break when the arrival of tourists had almost stopped and hotel bookings vanished as states closed their borders and imposed lockdowns," he added.
Himachal Pradesh is a major tourism destination. The contribution of the tourism sector to the state GDP is about seven per cent, a significant one.
Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of buildings that were once institutions of power when it was the summer capital of British India, saw season's first snow this week. However, it largely melted the same day. (IANS)