Published on : Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Dharamsala Hotel Association, said: “We will put forward our demands before the candidates coming to us for votes. The main road linking Dharamsala with McLeodganj, which is virtually the face of the region as most of the national and international tourists coming to the region visit McLeodganj, has been in bad shape for more than two years.
“We have been hearing that the road has been converted into a national highway.
However, the road has become so bad at some places that it is difficult for even small vehicles to cross it. We will ask the candidates contesting elections how they plan to improve the infrastructure in Dharamsala,” he said.
Deepak, a tour operator, said high airfare from Kangra to Delhi and no connectivity with Chandigarh were bane for tourism in the area. The airfares from Delhi to Dharamsala skyrocket to Rs 20,000 for one-way trip during the tourist season. In the off-season also, the airfares between Dharamsala and Delhi one-way trip range between Rs8000 and Rs 10,000 for one-way trip. The fare is among the highest in the country.
Demands have been raised several times that air travel in the state should be subsidised by the Union government as it has been done in the case of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. However, no government has taken any concrete step in this direction, he lamented.
Then there was the issue of inadequate parking places. The problem haunts most of the tourist places in Kangra district. During peak tourist season or in case of a special event, traffic jams become common. Despite the fact that Dharamsala town has been covered under the Smart City scheme, nothing has been done to redress the parking problems in tourist areas.
Many schemes like promoting tea tourism that can promote tourism in rural areas of the state have remained nonstarters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visits to the state, had talked of making Himachal an ideal tourist state. However, on ground, especially in the Kangra region, nothing much has been done.
Tags: Kangra tourism industry