Strength and Weaknesses of Himachal Pradesh Tourism :

Nature has bestowed Himachal Pradesh with unique beauty and splendour with its lush green valleys, snow covered Himalayan ranges, a serene, peaceful, hospitable and comfortable environment ,smiling people and a rich cultural heritage - which tourists would be hard put to find elsewhere. Being in the lap of Himalayas and its Himachal becomes a natural and unique place to visit with global appeal. Being in the lap of Himalayas this fact becomes its natural and unique feature with global appeal. Tourism contributes nearly 8% of the State Domestic Product. Himachal Pradesh is already a well-established and recognized tourist destination. It seeks to harness the fullest potential of the State for development of tourism, which in turn can be a prime engine for economic growth and prosperity of the State, besides effectively addressing the problems of unemployment and poverty.

Himachal Tourism- Strengths  :

Himachal Pradesh offers breathtaking pristine beauty. Tourism, as we understand it today, in Himachal Pradesh, received recognition only in the 19th century, when the British established their chain of hill stations. Earlier, Himachal had been a destination for pilgrims only. A fillip to tourism was administered when British declared Shimla as summer capital of India in 1864. Post independence and up -gradation as fledged State in the year 1971 led to more investment in the infrastructure sector leading to opening up of the state.Following are the main strength of Himachal as viewed from the tourism point of view.

1. Rare place: Himachal Pradesh is one of the rare places in the world offering five distinct seasons, thus having potential to attract tourist inflow round the year.

 2. Stable state: Himachal Pradesh is one of the Political and socially stable states in the country which offer peaceful pleasure for the tourists. Himachal Pradesh is recognized as a peaceful and hospitable state.

3. Salubrious and pollution free environment: Himachal Pradesh is one of the states in the country which has Salubrious climate whole round the year.

4. Rich history and heritage: Himachal Pradesh has rich history and heritage that has something to offer to all. Its, ancient temples, Buddhist monasteries churches and cemeteries are thousands of years old.

5. Himachal Pradesh offers a rare conglomerate of eco-tourism, pilgrimage, adventure, culture, heritage, leisure, and wilderness. All type of tourism activities are offered in the state. Himachal Pradesh has fairly good infrastructure. Himachal Pradesh has high literacy rate and the tourists do not face any problem in language communication.

Himachal Pradesh Tourism - Weaknesses  :

Over the past two decades, several researches attempted to find out reasons behind tourists? return intention to the destination. Due to lack of this vision Himachal is unable to attract quality tourist. Weaknesses are as follows :

1. Himachal Pradesh has negligible air and rail link. Recently air flights were also stopped due to some administrative problems. Due of which quality tourists stay away from the state.

 2. Himachal Pradesh has inadequate flow of foreign tourists. Data show that the foreign tourists inflow has increased from 2.8 to 4.8 million. But that is not enough because the average nights spent by the foreign tourists is just 1.2 which is less.

3. There is non-disbursal of tourists round the year, putting severe strains on civic infrastructure during the peak season. 64 per cent of the tourist inflow is in the season of six months from March to June and September and October. About 46 per cent tourist visit state during four months from March to June, when summer start in the plains.

 4. There is lack of trained tourist guides at important tourist places and historical tourist sites.

 5. No new tourist destinations have come up as a result there is saturation at the established tourist destinations. Once a tourist visits a place do not want to visit the place time and again. For e.g. 52 per cent tourists visit three tourist destinations in Shimla, Kullu and Kangra only.

 6. There are inadequate parking places at important tourist places as result there is chaos during their pleasure time and people go back with bad experiences .

7. There is poor marketing of the State tourism abroad and inadequate marketing with in the country so that less people are aware about the places of interest in the state.

8. Very little budget is allocated to tourism related activities. Only 0.28% of the state budget is allocated to tourism in Himachal Pradesh which is inadequate depending upon the states physiographic conditions.

 9. There are poor waste disposal systems in the leading destinations, posing threat to the environment like Rohtang Pass. There is lack of coordination in the different Government Departments leading to mismanagement.

Conclusion :

There are five factors that can increase inflow of tourist in Himachal Pradesh. First factor is increase in the travel due to business opportunities. Second is better roads and communication network in terms of air network, better sanitation facilities and better tourist experiences of past, third is availability of better tour packages, fourth factor is the rise in the income level of people especially the middle class, fifth factor is better options for travel and the sixth factor is various initiatives taken by the govt. such as unforgettable Himachal In order to achieve the policy objectives some thrust areas need to be recognised and explored Himachal offers a new era of nature enjoyment and learning. It also provides visitors an excellent exposure to the nature. This makes it an ideal area for developing eco-tourism rural tourism, adventure tourism and activities like jungle safaris, trekking, rock climbing, forest trails, nature walks, camping etc. All these activities are to be conducted in a manner that promotes awareness of the environment and helps maintain the ecological balance. Himachal Pradesh may channelize investment to showcase its natural beauty, develop newer circuits along with holy pilgrimages to attract tourists to the state. The state realizes the importance of investing in the above mentioned facilities and there has been action in these areas however, these efforts need to be sustained to continuously reap the benefits.