Shimla, Nov 15 : Early winter snowfall in Himachal Pradesh has brought cheer to the state's hospitality industry and the hope that Shimla will witness a White Christmas after nearly two decades.

High altitude areas witnessed the season's first snowfall Nov 9, making most of the hill stations, including Narkanda, 65 km from Shimla, the Solang valley and Marhi near Manali and Kalpa in Kinnaur district more picturesque.

"Early snowfall brings along with it the sublime promise of a White Christmas. This (early snowfall) is, of course, a bonus from nature to the tourism industry," Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corp (HPTDC) general manager Yogesh Behl told IANS.

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

Sudhir Khimta of Dwarika Residency, a tourist bungalow 85 km from Shimla, said: "This season timely snow has generated hopes of witnessing good spells of snow before year-end. Our area saw good snow. Daily we are getting a number of enquiries about the chances of snow in the last week of December."

Monica Malhotra, a senior executive with a Chandigarh-based multinational company, said: "If the weather remains favourable (with more snow), we will visit Manali to have fun."

According to the meteorological office here, the chances of more snowfall in the next few weeks are high.

"As the temperature plummeted considerably in the state after the first spell of snowfall, chances of more snow in the next few weeks are good in Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and other tourist spots. This time the snowfall was timely," meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said.

According to records of the meteorological department, snowfall has been eluding Shimla on Christmas eve for the past 18 years. It was way back in 1991 when the city last witnessed snowfall
(49 cm) on Christmas eve.

Tek Chand Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association, told IANS: "Snow is the lifeline of Manali in terms of tourism. The recent snowfall has cheered us. If the weather obliges us with a good spell of snow in the coming weeks, then there are still chances of good business."

Manali and its nearby areas are already buzzing with tourists.

"Most hotels in Manali have been packed to capacity. These days the rush of the tourists is from northern states," he said.

The hills overlooking Manali are covered under a thick blanket of snow and the tourists are enjoying snow sports like skiing, snow scooter riding and sledging.

The 13,050-foot-high Rohtang Pass, which is just 50 km from Manali, and its nearby areas received heavy snowfall.

Last year the tourism industry was reeling under losses due to little or no snow in most of the popular hill stations, including Manali and Shimla.

This time, the hospitality industry has more reasons to cheer as the year is going to end with another big holiday bonanza.

HPTDC general manager Behl said: "The extended weekend holiday bonanza commencing Dec 25 (Christmas) will definitely increase the footfall in the hills. Christmas is on Friday and Muharram on Monday. So if you take an off either on Thursday or on Tuesday and combine the holiday with the weekend, you can practically party for five days without really allowing your work to suffer."

Himachal Pradesh, with a population of just over six million, attracted 9.37 million domestic and 367,000 foreign tourists last year. Kullu and Manali are the hotspots for tourists, followed by Shimla and Dharamsala.