Hotels, travel agencies expect hill stations to see a tide of tourists

As the Republic Day weekend nears, executives at The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa, 8,825ft above sea level in Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K) Gulmarg, are preparing for a huge rush of tourists.

- Varuni Khosla

As the Republic Day weekend nears, executives at The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa, 8,825ft above sea level in Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K) 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 few suites, priced at ₹3-7 lakh a night, likely to remain available.

This isn't an isolated case. Other resorts in Gulmarg—known as India's 'winter wonderland'—and other snow-capped regions such as Auli in Uttarakhand and Kashmir's Pahalgam are expecting tourism to make a comeback this year after truant 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.