Dharamshala, April 18 -- After a lean start to the year, the tourist footfall in Himachal has started to rise and the hotel occupancy has started to climb with the rise in temperatures in plains.The average hotel occupancy has seen a considerable increase in recent days and is much higher than the occupancy in March. Riding on the increasing trend, the hoteliers in Himachal expect the more tourist footfall in May and June.

The hoteliers attributed the decline in hotel occupancy during winters to scarce snowfall and the Mahakumbh in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj. The hoteliers reported negligible occupancy in January, when the average hotel occupancy was around 20% and similar trend continued in February as well.

Shimla hotels and tourism st...