Dharamsala, Hosting of IPL matches has opened a vista of opportunities here as a tourist place. Anurag Thakur, president of the HPCA, while talking to The Tribune here today claimed that most of corporate people and VIPs were mesmerised by the beauty of Dharamsala and the surrounding areas. He said the Kings XI owner and Bollywood star Preity Zinta had liked the stadium to such an extent that she had expressed the desire to hold four matches of her team at Dharamsala in the next IPL season. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had also expressed the desire to shift some other matches at Dharamsala keeping in view the cool climate in the area as compared to other parts of the country in this season. “We would try that the IPL season at Dharamsala continues for one month next year. This would mean good one-month business for the tourism industry in the area,” he said.
He added that top BCCI officials, including president Shashank Manohar, vice-president Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley and Rajiv Shukla skipped the ICC meeting scheduled in Dubai to attend the match at Dharamsala. When asked about the criticism by the Congress regarding Rs 3 crore spent by the state government for improving facilities at Dharamsala in view of the matches, Anurag Thakur said it was a criticism for the sake of criticism. “If we take into account the amount of publicity Dharamsala has got through IPL matches, an investment of Rs 3 crore was a meagre amount,” he added. About the HPCA hotel that has also been in controversy, Anurag said the event had also exposed lack of a good hotel in the Dharamsala area for catering to high-end tourism. “We had to create the facility within three months. All guests who have stayed in pavilion hotel created by the HPCA have praised the facility. We would try to improve upon that during the next season,” Anurag said.
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