With the suspension of air services to the panoramic hill queens of Kullu and Manali Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, gloom has descended upon hoteliers and travel agents who were dressed up for the tourist season this year.
The reputed travel agents at Dehli and other metropolitan towns of the country along with the local tourism industry are upset with the apathetic attitude of the Central and State Governments.
They say that the high budget tourists would obviously prefer to go to other hill stations of the country which have air connectivity.
The tourists across the country were waiting on their wings for air-booking to the Bhuntar airport in Kullu district, but the airlines have not resumed the flights.
The airports of the State are lying abandoned and deserted. They are being forced to bear huge power bills accumulating at the monthly rate of Rs3.20 lakh, it was officially revealed.
When a delegation of hoteliers and travel agents met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh during his recent visit to Manali, he had assured to take up the matter at the highest level in New Delhi for the resumption of normal air services at the earliest as tourism was the backbone of the economy of the hill State.
But, nothing has come out so far, the hoteliers bemoaned. The situation is no better at the other two airports of Shimla and Kangra, they lamented.