By IANS,
Shimla : Himachal Pradesh, known for its picturesque tourist spots, registered an increase of 17 percent in the inflow of tourists last year compared to the previous year, an official said Sunday.
“The state attracted 11,437,155 tourists, including 400,583 foreigners, last year (2009),” Tourism Director Arun Sharma told IANS.
As many as 9,749,433 tourists, including 376,736 from overseas, visited the state in 2008, he said.
“There was an increase of more than six percent in arrival of foreign tourists. This is quite significant in view of the fact that the country had witnessed a negative growth in tourist arrivals in 2009 due to global recession and outbreak of swine flu,” he said.
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation General Manager Yogesh Behl said the corporation did good business, especially during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, last year compared to previous years.
“Overall, last year was good for the hospitality industry,” he said.
The corporation has 57 economy and high-end hotels with 1,070 rooms which have 2,320- bed capacity across the state. It is also running 60 restaurants and cafes.
Sharma said the ‘home stay scheme’ launched by the state government in 2008 has received overwhelming response from the household owners.
Under the scheme, any resident can rent out a portion of his house to the tourists after getting the premises registered with the tourism department.
“Presently, 180 private house owners have adopted the home stay scheme. Most of the houses are located in the tourist hubs of Kullu and Shimla,” he said.
The picturesque Kullu valley has the maximum 56 registered house-owners under the scheme.
He said the ‘home-stay scheme’, launched on the pattern of the union tourism ministry’s ‘Incredible India Bed and Breakfast Scheme’, not only helps in generating self-employment opportunities for the local people but also in decongesting urban areas.
“The scheme helps decongest urban towns and also checks fleecing by hoteliers during the peak season,” Sharma said.
To encourage more and more people to adopt the scheme, the tourism department has started imparting training to registered house owners.
“Officials are conducting regular inspections of registered houses keeping in view the rush of the visitors. Very shortly, a directory of all such approved establishments will be compiled. Right now, a tourist can book the home-stay unit at any of the state-run tourism booking centres,” he said.
Tourism is an important contributor to Himachal Pradesh’s economic development, besides horticulture and hydropower generation.
Kullu-Manali has emerged as a favourite tourist destination, followed by Shimla and Dharamsala.