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| Kashmir tourism going through worst crisis | | |
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 23: The Tourism, considered as the most visible asset of Jammu and Kashmir's economy, has been pushed to a cold dark corner, where things are going from bad to worse.
Empty houseboats, vacant hotels and deserted resorts present a gloomy picture of Kashmir's tourism sector which is going through one of its worst phases.
According to officials in the Tourist Department, in the month of July thousands of visitors were present in the Valley, which was in its peak tourist season.
However Stakeholders of tourism said that since then, the Valley is almost without tourists, which has brought the industry believed to be the backbone of Kashmir's economy to its knees.
Phalgam considered as the picturesque resort in South Kashmir and usually remained crammed with visitors.
The resort however looks deserted with most of the hotels, restaurants and shops closed for business.
A manager at a hotel in Phalgam said that the only business they had was of a few local visitors putting up for a night or two.
"We have not seen tourists for the last five months now. Only locals come for a night or two and then leave," he said.
According to official figures, 1.74 lakh tourists visited Kashmir in June, followed by 1.52 lakh, including 3,403 foreigners, in July. Stakeholders said that the chances of revival of tourism in the Valley were bleak this year.
"Summer season is our peak season and now the winter is in its peak time. With the situation as it is, we do not see many chances of any revival this till March," a travel agent said. The travel agents here said that the tourism season began late this year due to the attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama and then because of increased hostilities between India and Pakistan after the Balakote air strike.
"The business picked up in May-June and we were hopeful of a good season after the culmination of Amarnath Yatra as queries and bookings had increased in July. However, the prevailing situation has dealt a virtual death knell to the sector and bouncing back from it looks very difficult," he said.
However the state government here said that they have already launched major tourism promotional events to woo back tourists to Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior J&K Tourism Department officer in the civil secretariat said that the campaign has been launched to neutralize the impact on tourism due to the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.
He said that the government has asked the Federation of Indian Tour and Travel Association to proactively work for tourism promotion in Kashmir.
The official added that the J&K government and the Centre are keen on tourists returning to Kashmir in large numbers. |
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