Tax on tourist buses, lack of wayside amenities discouraging Gujarat travel agents from promoting HP'

Shimla: Tax on tourist buses registered outside Himachal and absence of way-side amenities at parking places are discouraging Gujarat tour operators and travel agents from promoting Himachal, tourism stakeholders said on Saturday.

In a release, Shimla Tourism Stakeholders Association President M K Seth said that members of the association held a meeting with the Gujarat travel agents at Gandhi Nagar during the Tourism Trade Fare. During the meeting, the President of Travel Agents Association of Pan India (TAAPI) Vineesh Shah said that travel agents of Gujarat are willing to promote Himachal but there are some major issues due to which tour operators hesitate to bring tourist groups to Himachal, he added.

Shah said that there is no tax on tourist buses having registration number of other states in Jammu & Kashmir and Uttrakhand but Himachal is charging high taxes and proposed to charge an increased rate of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per day from the tourist buses, registered outside the state due to which tour to Himachal has become unviable. He also pointed out that tourist buses are not allowed to enter Shimla city and the cost of tour operators increases as they have to hire taxis to send tourists to Shimla and sightseeing, the association said. Moreover, the buses are parked 7-8 km before Shimla and there is a lack of wayside amenities like public toilets, washing arrangements for buses, prepaid taxi service, canteen and rest rooms for drivers..

The association assured Gujarat operators that the matter would be taken up with the state government to resolve these issues. Shah said that Himachal is a favourite destination of tour operators and assured that in case these problems are solved the travel agents and tour operators of Gujarat will definitely promote Himachal in a big way. The tourist inflow from Gujarat would help in making the hotel industry of Shimla viable and increase the revenue of the government as Gujarat tour operators and Travel Agents play a significant role in contributing to high occupancy to the hotels in Himachal as maximum Tourists from Gujarat come in groups, said Seth.