Early Times Report
Srinagar, Nov 5: Nearly a month ago, the Jammu and Kashmir administration lifted its security advisory issued on 2 August asking tourists and Amarnath Yatra pilgrims to stay away from the erstwhile state. Tourists, however, did not return. In the month of October, Kashmir saw a 84 per cent dip in tourist footfall, ThePrint has learnt.
The advisory issued ahead of the Narendra Modi government's move to scrap Article 370 on 5 August - which withdrew the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir by the Constitution - and bifurcate the state into two union territories crippled the entire tourism sector in J&K.
While the state administration lifted the advisory on 9 October, the tourism department data accessed by ThePrint shows the industry in Kashmir is far from recovering from the blow it suffered in the aftermath of the Modi government's Article 370 move and the subsequent communications clampdown, with the terror attacks over the last few weeks only adding to the sector's woes.
Only 7,378 tourists visited the Valley after the advisory was lifted, bringing the total number of tourists in the month of October to 9,378. This is a fall of 84% from 59,048 tourists recorded in the same month last year, shows data.
In 2017, as many as 1,33,220 tourists had visited the Valley in October - the highest in eight years.
Between 5 August and 9 October, Kashmir saw a total of 8,404 tourists - a 95% fall from 1,85,057 tourists in the same period last year. Out of the 8,404 tourists, 7,031 were domestic and 1,373 were foreigners.
In 2018, the total number of tourists who visited the Valley between 1 August and 31 October was 2,28,905. This year, the figure stood at 24,019 - a large share of this arriving in the first four days of August.
Tourism accounts for roughly 6 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir's GDP. The state was bifurcated into two union territories - Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh - on 31 October. |
