The tourism industry in Himachal Pradesh, which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has made a strong comeback with more than 1.51 crore tourists visiting in 2022.
The tourism sector that was worst hit during the COVID-19 pandemic in Himachal is bouncing back with tourist arrival crossing the 1.51 crore mark in 2022. In 2019, 1.72 crore tourists visited the state. As many as 1.51 crore tourists including 29,333 foreigners visited Himachal in 2022 with the twin districts of Kullu and Shimla accounting for 36 percent of the total tourist arrival.
According to the data procured from the tourism department, there has been a 62 percent rise in the number of tourists as compared to 2021 when only 56.37 lakh tourists visited the state. The maximum number of tourists, 18.70 lakhs and 20.63 lakhs visited the state in May and June respectively. (Also read: 5 trends that will shape family vacation in 2023 )
The tourism sector contributes about 7.5 percent to the state’s gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the tourists staying in unregistered accommodations including hotels, home stays and others are not included in this data.
“Breaking the monotonous routine due to lockdown and restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are now venturing out and the aggressive targeted marketing and publicity by the tourism department in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from where the inflow was low has helped in increasing the footfall,” Tourism and Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Amit Kashyap told PTI.
