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Published on : Tuesday, October 20, 2020
The number of tourists from West Bengal to Himachal Pradesh has declined with trains from Howrah to Kalka not running, and hence, tourism and related industries have been affected.
As per the tourism industry and stakeholders’ association release, “Tourists from West Bengal and Gujarat make a big contribution during Durga Puja Holidays. This time, trains from Howrah to Kalka are not running which has directly impacted the hotels and other tourism-related units. Occupancy of hotels used to be from 70% to 80% during this year, but this year it has reduced from 15% to 20%.”
Since many tourists from Gujarat and Maharashtra are not visiting Himachal Pradesh, the tourism industry and stakeholders association has urged the government to increase the seating capacity of the buses.
“If the buses are allowed to run with 100 per cent seating capacity on the lines of Uttarakhand, then it may be viable to bring the groups to Himachal Pradesh. Our request from the government is that the seating capacity of the buses should be increased to 100 per cent so that groups coming from Gujarat could come to Himachal Pradesh which will benefit the tourism industry,” the association said.
The association requested the government to provide all tourism units with an unconditional working capital loan through the state cooperative banks, exemption in property tax by March and fixed demand charges incurred on electricity bills to be waived.