Himachal's Tourism Mess: Government Fails Its Own Hotels, Hands Over Losses to Private Players
Shimla | July 10:
Pulled up by the High Court and under pressure to fix its crumbling tourism infrastructure, the Himachal Pradesh government has once again opted for the easiest escape route — handing over 14 of its so-called "loss-making" HPTDC hotels to private players on Operation and Maintenance (O&M) basis.
These properties include The Apple Blossom (Fagu), Hotel Parwanoo, Hotel Ros Common (Kasauli), Giri Ganga Resort (Kharapathar), Hotel Chanshal (Rohru), Hotel Baghal (Arki), Hotel Swarghat Heights, Hotel Bilaspur, Hotel Mamleshwar (Chindi), Hotel Sarvari (Kullu), Hotel Jogindernagar, Hotel Rajgarh and others.
These hotels are spread across Himachal’s most sought-after tourism circuits — from Shimla and Kullu to Chopal and Bilaspur.
But years of neglect, bureaucratic apathy, and lack of commercial vision have turned them into liabilities.
Now, instead of reviving them professionally — as suggested by the Tarun Shridhar Committee — the Sukhu-led government has chosen to wash its hands off.
Adding to the confusion is the government’s peculiar wisdom: it has decided to shift the HPTDC headquarters from the state capital Shimla to Dharamsala, hoping this administrative shuffle will magically fix the losses.
But the move itself comes with a hefty cost to HPTDC — relocation expenses, operational disruption, and yet no clear revival roadmap.
Meanwhile, in complete contrast, the MD of HPTDC is urging unit managers to revive operations, open hotels to commercial activities, and even engage staff in outdoor catering to ramp up revenue — while the government is busy surrendering assets.
A classic case of right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.
It points to a complete crisis of leadership in the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Even worse, this policy flip-flop reveals a deeper hypocrisy.
While HPTDC has been allowed to:
Bleed public money for decades without consequences,
Skip house tax and audit scrutiny,
Run outdated, loss-making operations with guaranteed state backing...
The private hotel industry, on the other hand:
Generates local employment without subsidies, Pays full commercial taxes on power, water, and property,
Struggles post-COVID amid inflation and dwindling footfall, Gets no relief — only more registration fees, licenses, and red tape.
Still, it’s the private sector that's punished, while government inefficiency is silently protected, then outsourced when losses become unsustainable.
This is not tourism reform. It’s escapism.
Instead of fixing its own mess, the government is simply offloading failure.
Public inefficiency is protected. Private efficiency is penalized.
And Himachal’s tourism — once its pride — suffers both ways.
#TourismCrisis #HimachalHotels #PolicyFailure #HPTDC #PrivatizationBlues
