How Changing Weather Is Forcing Himachal’s Tourism Workers to Migrate

As snowfall declines and seasons grow unpredictable, thousands of workers who built their lives around Himachal Pradesh’s tourism industry are being pushed out of their home state in search of survival

The snow that once crowned the heights of the Himalayas famously known as “white gold” is slowly fading into a distant memory. And with it, the lives of those who once built their livelihoods on winter tourism are changing too. Shankar Rajput, who has been capturing tourists’ memories through his camera on Shimla’s Ridge ground for the past 48 years, said that neither the mountains nor the weather are what they once were. The snowfall and snow-capped peaks and meadows that was Shimla’s identity has disappeared.  

In the winters of years gone by, a thick white blanket of snow would spread across Shimla itself. But now, tourists must travel nearly three hours from Shimla all the way to the hills of Narkanda just to catch a glimpse of snow. The shrinking of these snow points has a direct impact on the tourism economy that is considered the backbone of Himachal Pradesh.

In Himachal, the weather has started dictating whether tourism will thrive or not, whether hotels will be full or empty, and whether the people working in the tourism sector with it will be able to stay in their homes or be forced to travel thousands of kilometres away in search of work. There was a time when snow-filled winters and the lush, beautiful hills following the monsoons were the greatest attractions of Himachal’s tourism business. In December and January, crowds would flock to Shimla, Manali, Kufri, Narkanda, and Dharamshala. Hotels would fill up; taxis would jam the narrow roads constantly. It was the time to earn enough to last till the next season for photographers, horse riders, dhaba owners, hotel staff, guides, and small business owners. Winters here were not just a season; they were the foundation of the entire local economy.

But now, due to change in climate these very winters are changing. Snowfall is decreasing, the cold patterns are breaking, the timing and volume of rain is changing and shifting, and the winter season on which hundreds of thousands of people depended—is becoming shorter, weaker, and uncertain. The scale of this shift can be understood from a striking fact: this year, in March — a month when Himachal’s hills should still have been draped in white — a heatwave lasting five consecutive days was recorded across the districts of Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, Sirmaur and Solan. This year’s winter season also recorded the 22nd lowest rainfall in recorded history dating back to 1901, according to the India Meteorological Department.

Long-term data from the Meteorological Centre, Shimla shows that since 2010, January has recorded below-normal rainfall on 11 separate occasions. In 2010, winter rainfall was 46% below normal. By 2016 and 2018, this deficit had grown to 70% and 71% respectively. In 2024, rainfall was 42% below normal; in 2025, it was 26% below normal; and by January 2026, the shortfall had already reached 11%.

Experts say this is not a temporary fluctuation but a permanent climatic trend — one that poses a serious threat not just to tourism, but to agriculture, horticulture, forestry and Himalayan water resources as well.

The changing weather has turned tourism from a profitable venture into a loss-making one for many. Hotel owners are struggling to break even, local businesspeople are gradually stepping away from the trade, and those who remain are fighting through relentless uncertainty. Climate change in Himachal has resulted in migration for jobs, shifting the search for livelihoods and more lucrative places.

This is not just an environmental story. It is a story of jobs lost, families separated and skilled mountain workers being transformed into what researchers are beginning to call ‘climate migrants’ — people not fleeing conflict or poverty, but a collapsing season.

A Crisis at the Heart of the Tourism Industry

Tourism is central to Himachal Pradesh’s economy. According to the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department, the sector contributes 7.78% to the state’s GDP. Over three lakh people are directly and indirectly employed by this industry, which generates business worth approximately 20,000 crore rupees every year. The state has over 10,000 registered hotels, 5,076 travel agencies, 1,741 photographers, 1,025 restaurants and 4,905 homestays.

Balwant Singh, a resort General Manager with over 35 years of experience in hotel management, believes the stability that once defined this business is gone. Singh told The Migration Story that snowfall reduction has stripped several once-famous tourist destinations of their appeal. “January and February have become almost dead months — hotels and resorts just sit empty,” he said.

Jyoti Thakur, who runs hotels in Shimla, Dharamshala, Spiti and Manali, confirms this on the ground. Thakur said that when hotels remain vacant through winter, paying staff salaries becomes impossible, forcing unwilling cuts to the workforce. The crisis deepens further during the monsoon — the devastating cloudbursts and landslides of 2023 and 2025 have planted a lasting fear in tourists’ minds, further weakening an already fragile cycle of livelihoods.

Stories of Forced Migration

The deepest blow has fallen on workers whose livelihoods are directly tied to tourism. For them, changing weather means reduced wages, the threat of job loss and, ultimately, migration.

Pushpender Sharma worked in a Shimla travel agency for two decades. He told The Migration Story that until about twenty years ago, both summer and winter seasons would be packed with visitors. Every Christmas and New Year brought thousands of tourists, hotels were fully booked, and employment was never in short supply. But over the past several years, snowfall decreased, the winter tourist season shrank, and floods, landslides and droughts robbed him of hope in the remaining months too.

“There used to be work here — now there is only waiting,” Sharma said. Caught in this uncertainty, he gave up the profession he had chosen for himself and returned to his village. He now runs a Lok Mitra Kendra — a citizen service centre — providing government services like Aadhaar enrolment and licence applications. He earns up to 20,000 rupees a month from it. “Life goes on, but the world of tourism, to which I gave twenty years, is no longer viable for me,” he said.

Sharma is not alone. Amit Thakur, a chef at a well-known resort in Manali, works there for six months before migrating to Goa each year. “In the winters now, there isn’t the work there used to be. Salaries drop at hotels, sometimes you lose your job altogether. That’s why I have to go to Goa — there’s work during the season there, and the pay is better,” Thakur said.

Jaswant Singh, who works in a hotel kitchen in Manali, has been in the tourism trade for eight years. For the past five years, after each season in Manali, he leaves Himachal and heads to Leh-Ladakh for work. “Every year I go out to work with four of my friends — sometimes Leh-Ladakh, sometimes Goa,” Singh said. “Working away from home is not easy, but there is no alternative left. If there is less work in the hotel, what can the owner do? He also has to manage his costs. But for us, running our household is essential too — so wherever there is work, we have to go.”

‘Climate Migrants’ from the Mountains

This migration is not merely a search for work — it is a compulsion born of environmental change, one that is transforming the skilled workers of these mountains into climate migrants.

The impact falls hardest on their health and mental well-being. When people accustomed to Himachal’s cool, tranquil valleys are forced to work in the scorching heat of Rajasthan or the extreme humidity of Goa and Kerala, their bodies struggle to adapt. Different food, water and radically contrasting climatic conditions cause immense physical and psychological stress. They arrive at peak season, when the workload is heaviest and job security is lowest. Far from home, cut off from their families and moving towards an uncertain future, the suffering of these workers is recorded in neither government reports nor policy documents.

Professor Nitin Vyas of the Tourism Department at Himachal Pradesh University believes the time has come to work seriously on sustainable tourism and frame policies that are environmentally compatible — so that these workers can be protected from further insecurity.

Vikram Katoch, a research scholar at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Service Management at Indira Gandhi National Open University, argues that a shift towards a sustainable and climate-resilient tourism model is now unavoidable. Katoch said this means not simply developing new tourist destinations, but restructuring the existing tourism framework so that it maintains continuity of employment and income despite weather uncertainty.

“Tourism must move beyond dependence on winter snow and a limited peak season towards a year-round model,” Katoch said. Eco-tourism, cultural tourism, wellness tourism and off-season activities should all be promoted. He also said that those in the industry must go beyond selling rooms — they must offer tourists richer experiences and lasting memories, so that visitors return again and again.

Social security and labour protection systems for seasonal workers are equally urgent. These could include off-season financial assistance, skill diversification and alternative local employment. Employment guarantees and migration support systems for climate-affected regions should also be considered, so that workers who must leave are assured of decent conditions and basic safety at their destinations.

The migration driven by Himachal’s changing weather can no longer be viewed as merely a natural or economic problem. It is an emerging policy question, at the centre of which are thousands of workers forced to leave their home state every year simply to survive.

Currently, there is no clear policy addressing climate-induced seasonal migration. There are many schemes for promoting tourism, but for those who form its true backbone — hotel workers, kitchen staff, drivers, photographers and other labourers — measures ensuring security and stability remain woefully limited.

Experts argue that climate risk must now be placed at the heart of tourism policy. If snowfall is declining and weather patterns are continuously shifting, then investment, infrastructure and employment strategies must shift too. Government, communities and all stakeholders must work together — otherwise, this crisis will only deepen in the years ahead.

Shankar Rajput’s camera still captures the smiles of tourists on the Ridge ground in Shimla. But the hope in his eyes has grown a little dim — the same hope that once returned every year with the first snowfall. His story is, in truth, the story of all those who are both witnesses to the beauty of the Himalayas and its first casualties in the face of change.