Kashmir tries hard to bring its tourists back

Jehangir RashidM Srinagar

When Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, casually cycled down a street in Pahalgam, TV cameras in tow, he was signalling that Kashmir is back on track and looking ahead. A series of steps has been taken by his government to instil confidence amongst domestic tourists to visit and explore this ‘Paradise on Earth’.

A pall of gloom had descended on the state after 25 tourists and a local ponywallah were gunned down mercilessly by terrorists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on April 22. Tourists fled, leaving behind locals distraught over the killings.

As many as 48 tourist spots or offbeat destinations were subsequently closed down. An economy on the brink of revival ran the risk of being dragged back to a forgettable past. People in the tourism sector were a dejected lot, ruing the losses inflicted on them for no fault of theirs.

Determined to revive tourism and dispel despondency, Abdullah began his drive by first convening a series of meetings with his cabinet colleagues, the civil administration, and the police at Pahalgam and Gulmarg in the south and north of the Kashmir Valley. The message through these meetings was loud and clear — Kashmir is safe and Kashmiris are eager to welcome guests with their traditional warmth and hospitality.

Pahalgam had been especially chosen, said an official spokesperson, to demonstrate that the state was determined to restore normalcy, send a welcoming signal to tourists and vehemently reject any violence and attempts to derail peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The choice of Pahalgam was aimed at expressing solidarity with the victims of the terror attack at Baisaran on April 22, after which Kashmir, including Pahalgam, witnessed a sharp decline in tourist footfall,” said a government spokesman. The state government has decided to set up a memorial for the tourists who lost their lives at Baisaran.

The cabinet meeting at Pahalgam was convened after Abdullah attended a NITI Aayog general council meeting in New Delhi. At the meeting, the J&K chief minister proposed reviving the tourism sector and suggested that parliamentary committees, PSUs (public sector units) and Central government departments should hold meetings or conferences in Kashmir to rebuild confidence among ordinary people intending to visit the Union Territory in future.

Besides Abdullah’s cabinet colleagues, the Gulmarg meeting was attended by all administrative secretaries, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, the Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, senior police officers, heads of several departments and the CEO of Tourism Development Authority Gulmarg. Adviser to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Gulmarg MLA Farooq Ahmad Shah and Additional Chief Secretary to CM Dheeraj Gupta were also present at the meeting, underlining its importance.

Addressing the meeting, Abdullah said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi could convene a meeting to review tourism in J&K and tour operators from Maharashtra and Gujarat could visit the region voluntarily — not because they were invited, but because they wanted to contribute to the normalization process — then it was imperative for the J&K government to take corresponding steps.

“These meetings are not symbolic; they are part of a larger effort to initiate a return to normalcy and restore confidence. We must do this with sensitivity and without appearing forceful,” said Abdullah. He emphasized the importance of participating in major tourism events outside J&K.

“Our absence from such events can send the wrong signal. Tour operators, both within and outside J&K, have expressed the need for our visible presence at upcoming tourism trade fairs. We are already taking part in major events like those in Ahmedabad and Kolkata, and participation in all major events is being planned carefully,” he said.

Abdullah said the list of 48 tourist spots which had been closed was under review and would be revised gradually. “Some of these places were never closed even during the worst days. We’ll have to take measured steps to reopen them.”

He also spoke of involving schools and colleges in promoting local tourism. “Earlier, during the peak tourist season, we would discourage student excursions due to overcrowding. Now, we must encourage them. Let the children come and experience these places. It’s another step towards normalcy.”

He said he had urged the PM and other ministers to consider J&K, especially the Valley, as a venue for central PSU board meetings and conferences—particularly in summer when most people from the plains seek respite from the heat.

“The number of people dependent on tourism has grown significantly in recent years. While larger businesses might endure a downturn, smaller players — like shikara operators, taxi drivers and homestay owners — face immediate financial distress. For them, daily earnings mean daily survival. We’re working on an assistance package to support them,” said the  chief minister.

Rauf Ahmad Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), said that the current focus of tourism players was to ensure inflow of tourists to Kashmir during the autumn and winter seasons. He commented despondently that the summer tourism season was over for this year.

“We are hopeful that the Amarnath Yatra, which is commencing, will pass off peacefully. The culmination of the Yatra in a peaceful manner will send a positive message to the outside world that Kashmir is safe to visit. Since the bulk of tourists during the autumn season come from the eastern parts of the country, especially West Bengal, we are devoting our attention towards prospective tourists from these areas and also from South India,” said Tramboo.

The present situation was grim, he admitted, with people preferring to adopt a wait and watch policy. The brief Indo-Pakistan military conflict which followed the Pahalgam attack also complicated an already fragile situation.

Since Kashmir is getting connected to the rest of the country via train services, he said tourism players hoped that 5 to 10 percent of people visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra in Jammu would add a visit to Kashmir to their itinerary.

Veteran tourism player and renowned hotelier Ghulam Mohammad Dug says that it was quite natural for tourists to leave Kashmir immediately after the dastardly incident in Baisaran. Relatives of tourists on a sojourn to Kashmir were worried and they wanted their dear ones back safe and sound.

“The tourists who were in Kashmir at the time of the Baisaran-Pahalgam incident were moved by the hospitality of the locals. Since their relatives living hundreds of kilometres away were concerned about their safety, they wanted them to return immediately. That’s what happened, leading to losses by the tourism sector,”  says Dug.

The majority of hotels are now vacant. There is  no tourism related activity in Kashmir. Tourists can be spotted here and there, but the overwhelming rush is missing. “It  reminds us of the days when nobody from India or the outside world would come to Kashmir,” remarks Dug.

Noted businessman and executive member of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCC&I) Jagmohan Singh Raina pointed out that around 80,000 young people working at different levels in the hospitality sector have been rendered jobless. An appreciable number of them had purchased vehicles with bank loans and are now facing the uphill task of repayment without an income.

“In addition to joblessness in the hospitality sector, houseboat owners, shikara owners, ponywallahs and tourist guides have also been pushed to the wall. The people who had got taxis on loans from banks and other financial institutions are finding it hard to pay the monthly instalments,” said Raina.

Raina said that the impact of the Baisaran incident will be felt in the tourism sector over the next couple of years. His assessment is that it will be difficult to bring the sector back on track quickly. The Baisaran massacre could have been avoided if just a single policeman had been stationed there for tourists’ security, said Raina.

The 48 tourist destinations closed for tourism are spread across eight districts in the Kashmir Valley. There will be a review as tourists return to the Valley shortly.