Around 12 December, the director of meteorological office Manmohan Singh announced that while Shimla had not been reached yet, snow was covering the hills around the area. This included popular tourist destinations and resorts such as Narkanda and Manali, welcoming the winter weather that sparkled on the hill stations and lured visitors in with its spectacular scenes. This is a good sign for the hospitality industry here, as snow greatly increases business and the numbers of holidaymakers in the area have already increased to an encouraging number.
Most places in the area that have seen snow around this time saw temperatures that were close to sub-zero and the heart of the apple belt, 65 km away, had mild snow for two full days. This Awesome snowfall is very likely to attract potential visitors, who had previously been at home playing Party Poker but have been attracted by the weather. Manali, which is a popular tourist resort, has seen quite a lot of snow, with the hills looking very picturesque and inviting. Manali District Tourism Officer, Balbir Thakur has said that they are hoping the snow continues, as the current record of 30,000 visitors could multiply before New Year's Eve. It would be especially good for the area if it saw snow on Christmas and New Year's Eve, which would really cement the festive spirit.
However due to the snow, the Rohtang Pass which is located at an altitude of around 13,050 feet and around 51 km from Manali has actually been closed to tourists. Visitors are not allowed to move past Gulaba, which is around 19 km away from Manali. Despite this though, hotels in the accessible areas are doing really good business, which is a good thing as Himachal Pradesh is very dependent on tourism, welcoming around 13,298,748 visitors a year.
