All tourist places in Himachal are choked with tourist vehicles as thousands of tourists have reached major tourist places like Manali, Shimla, and Dharamshala etc. to celebrate Christmas holidays.
The capital towns Shimla, Manali and Atal Tunnel Rohtang have witnessed maximum influx of tourists during the past twenty four hours as thousands of tourists have thronged to celebrate the holidays.
As per estimates of the police department nearly 25000 tourist vehicles have reached Shimla during the past two days while nearly 30000 vehicles have reached Manali during this period causing temporary traffic jams at many places.
The people involved in the tourism industry are quite happy with the arrival of tourists in the winter season since they had to suffer huge losses during the devastating monsoon rains. The hotels are almost full to capacity in major tourist towns.
The state government has made elaborate arrangements to welcome tourists to the state. The local administrations of Shimla and Manali are organizing Mahanati (local folk dances) to entertain them and have set up DJs at the Ridge Shimla and Manali Mall Road for the revelers.
The state government is organizing a winter carnival at Shimla for the first time and it commenced with Mahanati in which 450 folk dancers participate after its inauguration on Monday by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, which would continue till January 5, the winter carnival at Manali would begin on January 1st.
After inaugurating a new tunnel at Dhali, the Chief Minister said, “ The state government is making every effort to promote tourism in the state and we are working to find a permanent solution to traffic jams in Shimla.”