In restive Kashmir, tourists stop flocking, locals suffer heavy losses

The tourism industry has suffered badly in Kashmir due to political unrest.

Srinagar, July 28: Kashmiris can clearly see the writing on the wall and realise that political strife has badly affected the once booming tourism industry in the Valley.

The unrest in Kashmir which started in July last year continues this year too, causing great harm to the tourism industry. People associated with the tourism industry in the Valley fear that if things continue like this, soon they would go jobless.

"If you thought 2016 was the worst that could hit us, you are wrong. Tourism-wise, 2017 has been worse than last year. Another year like this and it is shutters down for hoteliers of the Valley," Aijaz Ahmad Chaya, a well-known hotel owner who has establishments in the tourist resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg, was quoted as saying by IANS.

It is not just the big hoteliers who are suffering, anyone directly or indirectly depending on the industry, including average restaurant owners and tea-stall owners, are unhappy about the whole situation.

"We would have a huge rush of tourists coming to our place for Punjabi breakfast before starting their day. That story is over for the last two years now," said Ramesh Sharma, the owner of a dhaba (roadside eatery) in Srinagar.

Those who are involved in selling handicraft items and taxi drivers are contemplating to change their livelihoods so that they could keep their kitchens running at homes.

"Papier mache has been in our blood. We have been making papier mache products and selling these for over four generations now. But mine is going to be last generation in this craft. Come what may, my son will not take to the family profession," said Showkat Ali, a craftsman living in Srinagar's Zadibal area.

The woes of locals suffering heavy losses due to decline in flow of tourists have been well-articulated by official figures.

"Despite last year's unrest, we had 1.1 million tourist arrivals till the end of July 2016. This year, as July draws to a close, we have less than 50 per cent of that number till now," said a senior official of the state's tourism department.

The official cited various reasons behind the alarming drop in tourist arrivals in Kashmir, this spring and summer.

"Our major spring season attraction has been the Tulip Garden. This year the flowering period in the garden was cut short by rains, followed by the flood scare due to heavy spring rains.

"Most of our expected spring arrivals were cancelled because of the media, especially the electronic media, over-playing the flood scare," said the official.

"We then had a series of events that dealt a serious blow to the industry. There was this killing of a militant commander, Sabzar. Then we had the gondola accident in Gulmarg and finally the terror attack on the Amarnath Yatris.

"These had such a depressing effect on tourists and travel operators that once, during that period, our arrivals by road dropped to zero for some time," the official informed.

He said tourist arrivals by air have, however, remained unaffected.

"But the issue is that more than 90 per cent of tourists who come to Kashmir do so by road, and the uncertainty in south Kashmir areas adversely affected the road arrival of visitors," he said.

Amid all these depressing statistics, the news of number of Amarnath pilgrims already crossing last year's figure has given some hope to the people of the Valley.

"We had 230,000 yatris last year and, till now, this figure has already crossed 250,000 and there are still 12 days remaining before the yatra concludes," the official said.

Officials alleged that social media is running campaigns to undermine tourism in Kashmir.

"We are trying to effectively counter this propaganda by projecting interviews of tourists who narrate their first-hand experiences while visiting the Valley," the official said.

He also spoke of campaigns to woo tourists and conferences organised by the government to negate the propaganda against visiting Kashmir.

OneIndia News