Heavy snowfall in Himachal in 2012 has not only revitalized the glaciers of Himachal Pradesh, but also refreshed the mood of the tourism industry of the state, with good amount of snow lover tourists heading to the hill state.
With the fresh snow fall the tourism department of HP is expecting thousands of tourists, mostly couples to visit various hill stations of Himachal like Manali, Shimla, Mcleodganj, Dalhousie and Dharamshala in the next few days. All these hill towns are covered with thick layer of snow. Apart from this hundreds of ski enthusiasts have already booked their tickets to Manali to learn basic techniques of the winter sport this month. There are number of registered Private ski instructors and institutes in Manali which are offering many courses.
Manali Mountaineering institute (ABVIMAS) which has branches in Dharamshala as well is going to start short and long term ski courses from Wednesday.
"This is the best time to visit Manali, when possibility to see fresh snowfall is very high, and tourists are reaching here to enjoy and capture some romantic moments," a travel agent in Manali, Roop Chand Negi said. "Tourists are inquiring about places in Himachal which have experienced fresh snowfall. Shimla and Manali are their first choice," he added.
Travel agents in the neighbouring states of Himachal like Punjab, Haryana Delhi are getting thousands of queries and are getting the bookings for Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, Solan, Dalhousie, Shimla and Manali for January and February.
Mcleodganj has received about 10 inch of snow fall, Manali Shimla are also cover with thick layers of snow. According to reports Rohtang pass has received 3.5 feet of snow.
Manali winter carnival is also starting from January 5 and lot of craze is there after the snow fall in Manali. The Manali Carnival organizers have now added several snow-related activities. This will include fun activities like igloo making competition, snow statue making, snowballs, snowman, and fun races, snow mobile stunts, paragliding on snow etc would be organized in Manali
