Tourism in Himachal

Samuel Johnson once said " The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are". Honourable members of the Jury, members of the staff and young aspiring students of St. Edward's School. Today I have been given this golden opportunity to express my views on the topic -Tourism in Himachal -, an industry whicch is of great economic interest to our State, Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal is known as the Land of Gods. It is the most preferred tourist destination not only for the domestic but also for the foreign tourists as well. After Himachal was formed in 1971, the tourism industry has been on the top of the priorities list in the agenda of the Himachal Pradesh Government. Therefore, due to the sincere efforts of the government, Himachal has made a mark of its own on the world tourism map.

Now, let me tell you of some of the history of Himachal and its capital, Shimla. Shimla was founded almost 200 years back by the Britishers. They adored this place due to the similar climate as found there in England and thus, they made it its Summer Capital. As a result, many other cities came up in Himachal. There are a number of beautiful hill stations in Himachal like Kullu-Manali, Dalhousie, Dharamshala, Kasauli, Solan and its capital, Shimla. The favourite picnic spots also include the Sangla Valley, Khajjiar and even the Nathpa Jhakri Power Project, which is worth seeing. It is the biggest hydroelectric power station in Asia. Khajjiar, with its proximity to Chamba, is called the Mini-Switzerland, with the striking similarity in their landscape. The wonderful view of the trees on the boundary and the beautiful lake in the middle makes one remember the beauty of Switzerland. Manali also serves as a favoured hill station. It provides a wide variety of picnic spots, which are again worth seeing.

Now, let me acquaint you how Himachal became the most preferred tourist State in India. Till 1989, Kashmir was the most preferred tourist destination. It was even identified as the Paradise on Earth. But the growth of terrorist activities in 1989, arrested the growth of tourism and checked the tourist inflow to a great extent. The Kashmir government tried many steps to keep the growth of tourism but of no avail. Thus, on the cost of the tourism in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh became the next hot tourist destination. Till 1989, the film producers and directors only chose tourist spots in Kashmir as tourist spots. But after the terrorist activities stepped up in 1989, the film producers started to look for other states as shooting spots. Thus, Himachal became their obvious choice, because of its beautiful environment and attractive tourist spots.

Now, let me tell you something of the geography of our State, Himachal Pradesh. The State is almost entirely mountainous with altitudes ranging from 460 meters to 6600 meters above sea level. It has a deeply dissected topography, a complex geological structure and a rich temperate flora in sub-tropical latitudes. The State abounds in wildlife among which are rare species like musk deer, Himalayan brown bear and snow leopard. Among birds, the list includes monal and snow cocks.

Now, coming back to how tourism affects the economy of our state. Tourism has greatly helped our state government to increase their revenue and thus, tourism has become the main source of its income. Therefore, it was necessary to maintain the growth of tourism in the state. Thus, the government took cautious but tourism-favouring steps and policies to maintain the growth. It has opened up information centres at various places in the state to aid the tourists. This has helped in the flourishing of hotels and the tourism industry in the state.

(Kufri, Chail and Mashobra are beautiful picnic spots nearing Shimla. The wildlife zoo, the resort and the ride on yaks are the distintive features of Kufri.)

In the winters, the snow-covered hill peaks and the criss-cross roads encourage the foreign as well as domestic tourists to visit Himachal but the summer season is the season from which the government receives most of its revenues. In the summer season, when rest of India is suffering under the scorching heat, Himachal provides them the much - needed respite for the domestic tourists. Thus, tourism keeps Himachal alive the whole year.

Therefore, tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries. Although India contributes only 0.38% of the world tourism industry, there are still many areas in Himachal Pradesh which cannot survive without it. Therefore, in the end I would like to say that tourism in Himachal has emerged as an instrument for employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development.

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[ The paragraphs or words in ( ) are those which I did not speak during the contest but had written it down. ]

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