The Himachal Pradesh government is trying desperately to market its tourist locations, spread across the hill state, but it has failed to improve the condition of roads, resulting in harassment to tourists. Leave alone destinations located in the hinterland, but reaching main towns like Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala and Dalhousie also is not less than a nightmare for tourists as per a report in TOI by Anand Bodh.

Railway track is accessible only at a few places in the state, fetching it limited number of tourists, while three domestic airports -- located at Shimla, Bhuntar (Kullu) and Gaggal (Kangra) -- also have limited number of flights, which mainly cater to high-end tourists. "As majority of tourists arrive in the state using surface transport, the neglected condition of roads are a dampener for tourism promotion," felt Naveen Tanwar, a Manali-based hotellier.

Upto June this year, 13.2 million tourists visited the state of which 0.4 million were foreigners. Deprived of effective rail and air connectivity, roads within the state form a major mode of transportation, but this fact too has failed to prompt the state government to do the needful.

Chandigarh-Parwanoo-Shimla, Chandigarh-Kiratpur-Manali-Keylong and Pathankot-Kangra-Manali roads are broken at many points, as over the years, slow pace of work has left them almost neglected, sources said.

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