SHIMLA - Most hotels in various tourist destinations in Himachal Pradesh are totally booked ahead of the three-day extended weekend that starts with the Janmasthami festival Aug 14.

“Most of our hotels will be packed to capacity. The response of tourists has been very encouraging,” said Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corp managing director Subhashish Panda.

The corporation has 57 economy and high-end hotels across the state.

“This is a rare occasion when people, especially those from multinational companies, get an opportunity to take a break,” Panda told IANS.

Added D.P. Bhatia of Clarke’s Hotel in Shimla: “Besides the long weekend, the cool environs of the hills are also attracting tourists as it is still hot and humid in the plains.”

And to lure them further, many hotels have come up with promotional offers and discounts.

While the government hotels in Shimla, Manali and Dalhousie apart from a host of other locations are offering 10 to 30 percent discount, some private hotels are offering discounts up to 50 percent even on food and beverages.

Tek Chand Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association, said tourist arrival was picking up for the first time since a lull set in with the onset of the monsoon.

“Most of the hotels and guest houses in and around Manali are booked. Still, we are getting a number of booking enquiries,” Thakur said.

Mehar Chand Thakur, a prominent travel agent in Manali, said the swine flu scare in the country has not hit Himachal Pradesh’s tourism sector in a big way so far.

“Yes, there is a decline in the arrival of foreign tourists this time, it may be due to scare of swine flu or global recession. But the arrival of domestic tourists, especially from the northern states, is good,” he added.

Some domestic tourists, scared by the swine flu, are headed for the hills. Said Rajat Malik, a Chandigarh-based senior executive with a multinational company who had earlier planned a short vacation to Mumbai: “The swine flu scare in Mumbai has shaken our confidence. We have cancelled our bookings there and are now heading for the hills.”

Last year, 9.37 million domestic and 367,000 foreign tourists visited Himachal Pradesh. Kullu and Manali are hot spots, followed by Shimla and Dharamsala.

Tourist arrivals in the state last year surpassed the state’s population of about 6.5 million.