Early Times Report
Jammu, May 18: The COVID -19 related lockdown has wreaked havoc on Jammu’s tourism industry with early estimates depicting a whooping loss of Rs 10 thousand crore this year with Rs 5000 crore losses being incurred by the hotel industry alone.
As per the reports coming to the fore, the worst brunt of COVID-19 lockdown is being borne by the tourism industry in the Jammu division with travel agencies, hotels, tourist vehicles, handloom and dry fruit industry incurring huge losses with each passing day.
There are over 1000 hotels in the Jammu region and all in unison have at present zero bookings. The peak season is from April to July and during this period, there seems no hope that the hotel owners would earn anything due to the prevalent lockdown. As per the estimates, the hotel industry of Jammu till date has incurred losses worth Rs 5000 crore. Furthermore, there are more than 6000 tourist vehicles in Jammu region that ferry tourists to Kashmir and at various other locations. There is an estimated Rs 1500 crore loss to this industry due to the lockdown.
The travel agencies, similarly, as per the reports are facing losses worth Rs 1000 crore. The cumulative losses to the tourism industry in Jammu are estimated to be more than Rs 10,000 crore.
Official documents reveal that since August 5 2019 when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked by the central government, Jammu region had received the 100 times more tourists than Kashmir. While since August 5, 2019, 84,326 tourists visited Kashmir, Jammu received more than eighty-seven lakh, ninety-four thousand, eight hundred thirty-seven visitors as per the official documents.
Jammu has tremendous potential and can become a center for major tourist infrastructure. There have been numerous occasions when people have hailed the hospitality of the region and how safe it is to roam freely in J&K’s winter capital.
Meanwhile, with tourist arrival spiking in Jammu, there were hopes that the same could provide a boost to the region’s economy in the long run.
There is a large population of the erstwhile state dependent on this sector. As per the government records, there are 507372 establishments in the state and there are 1084295 artisans throughout the state consisting of 594090 (55%) hired and 490205 (45.21%) not hired workers. The male workers are 81.34% and the female workers are 18.66% in the state. It includes Carpets, Woolen shawls, and Paper Machine which are mostly sold to the tourists who come to the former state. It provides employment to 58 percent of the population both directly and indirectly. |
