Dharamsala, November 21 – Dharamsala is witnessing a huge tourist inflow following the season’s first snowfall.
Nestled at the foot of the Dhauladhar Mountains, this town in Himachal Pradesh is home to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Shanghu Singh, a tourist guide in the region, said that the heavy snowfall is attracting tourists in large numbers.
“We are coming from the upper region and there is one to one-and-a-half feet snow in the upper areas. Tourists are coming in large numbers because some have seen snow and some have not,” he said.
Also known as Mini Lhasa, Dharamsala, with its large number of monasteries and a centre of Buddhist learning, attracts over 600,000 foreign tourists every year.
A South Korean tourist said it was a new experience to see snowfall and greenery at the same time.
“Here there are mountains where it snows somewhere and somewhere it is green.
“In South Korea, we do not see such an environment. It is fantastic here. In these four days, I have seen the whole of Dharamsala,” Lee Tong Yonk said.
The early snowfall is good news for the tourism industry. Tourism is the mainstay of state’s economy, generating about 100 million dollars annually.
Over the last few years, Himachal Pradesh has become the preferred destination for tourists.
