Hotels, travel companies expect domestic tourism to surge in hill stations this winter

As the Republic Day weekend nears, executives at The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa, 8,825 feet above sea level in Gulmarg, are preparing for a huge rush of tourists. After a disappointing winter at the start of 2024, the hotel expects to see most of its regular rooms sold out for the weekend, with only a handful of suites, priced at ₹3-7 lakh a night, likely to remain unavailable.

This isn’t an isolated case. Other resorts in Gulmarg – known as India’s ‘winter wonderland’ – and other snow-capped parts of the region such as Auli and Pahalgam are expecting tourism to make a comeback this year after a lack of snow hit tourism hard in 2024. 

The reasons for this include improved connectivity and a growing appetite for skiing, snowboarding and other winter sports – primarily driven by domestic travellers – hotel owners and other industry insiders told Mint. 

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In Delhi, Sheena Singh, 41, is packing her bags for a four-day trip with her husband Karan over the Republic Day weekend.  They are looking to book an independent villa at Pine N Clouds in Beerwah village, Jammu & Kashmir. “We like adventure travel and have bungee jumped before but this will be our introduction to skiing. We are excited to learn something new,” she said. 

Other hotspots such as Manali, Shimla and Leh-Ladakh are also drawing strong interest from winter travellers as the infrastructure improves, travel companies said. While Manali has seen some car accidents that caused traffic jams between Solang Valley and Atal Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh’s Rohtang, those planning to travel by air won’t have any such trouble.

Indian tourists drive demand

After a busy New Year week, travel companies are looking to capitalise on the long weekend by offering curated packages that combine adventure with cultural experiences. According to data from these companies, Manali, Gulmarg, Shimla, Auli and Leh-Ladakh have seen tourist numbers grow at 15-20% a year over the past few years owing to improved connectivity and infrastructure. 

Companies said more travellers are looking to build itineraries with them, inquiring about adventure tourism, and choosing snowy retreats for their winter getaways. This shift highlights how snow tourism is no longer the sole domain of rich Indians and international tourists, and has now gone mainstream.

"Snowfall tends to add huge levels of excitement. We expect to see some snowfall in the first week of January. We were sold out on New Year's Eve last week and expect January-March to yield an occupancy of 90-95%. We have also undertaken a minimal price increase of 5%," said Vinit Chhabra, general manager at The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa.

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Himachal Pradesh received 10 million tourists in the first half 2024, after attracting 16 million tourists in the whole of 2023. Meanwhile, more than 21 million tourists visited Jammu & Kashmir in 2023. The union territory has not published any new data since then.

Devendra Parulekar, co-founder of villa rental business SaffronStays, said, "Manali is seeing increasing footfall as infrastructure improves. The Border Road Organisation has patched up the roads and the power supply has been stable over the past two weeks. We will see demand in Tirthan and Manali in the coming weeks, too. Theog and Shimla are already doing well, along with Kasauli. Despite there being no snow in Dehradun, the region continues to drive the highest footfall for us because of its connectivity and its vicinity to snow-bound areas such as Mussoorie, Landour and Dhanaulti.” He said, however, that Nainital and Mukteshwar are yet to see a revival.

Optimism reigns

Mint reported earlier that until last month, many villas were unsure if business would pick up in the hills because the snow was yet to arrive in many places. They also said many hill-station travellers tend to book stays close to their holiday dates because of the uncertain weather.

But despite unpredictable weather in places such as Manali, travel operators remain optimistic. Companies such as Thomas Cook India Limited and its other business SOTC Travel are adapting to environmental challenges by closely monitoring snowfall and tailoring packages to meet evolving customer expectations.

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"Winter tourism in these regions has grown at 15-20% year-on-year. According to data from the tourism ministry, winter tourism arrivals in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir alone have surged by more than 30% between 2018 and 2023," said SD Nandakumar, president and country head of holidays and corporate tours at SOTC Travel. "Connectivity and stable infrastructure such as power are attracting people the most. Places with traffic jams and power outages are being avoided entirely," he added. 

Recent snowfall in Srinagar brought cheer to Rah Bagh By The Orchard, a 41-key, high-end property at Dal Lake, where suites overlooking the lake start around ₹25,000 a night. "Snow is always a tourist magnet. If we get good snow in January, it is less likely to melt away quickly, making the first three months of the year very strong. We have had good tourism in the valley the last two years on the back of very strong domestic demand, and good snowfall always helps position us better," said Nazir Rah, managing director of Rah Hotels & Resorts.