Valley tourism looks to bounce back as snowfall brings smiles to tourists, industry stakeholders

GULMARG: The recent snowfall in the Valley has rekindled hopes for a revival of the tourism sector in Kashmir that suffered heavily owing to various adversities this year, including the Pahalgam terror attack in April and a spate of natural calamities during the monsoon.

The terror attack on tourists at the Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam on April 22, that left 26 persons dead, shattered the tourism sector in the Valley and the goodwill it had garnered.

As the sector tried to revive, the rains came lashing in August-September, triggering flood-like conditions across Jammu and Kashmir and forcing the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway for days on end, dealing another blow to tourist arrival.

Then, the Delhi blast in November and its aftermath caused tourists to abstain from visiting the Valley.

However, amid a furious promotional campaign initiated by the Union territory government in the recent months, the winter snowfall following a prolonged dry spell has rekindled hope for the return of tourists to the Valley.

The moderate to heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir, especially at tourist hotspots of Gulmarg and Sonamarg, has lit up the faces of not just visitors, but every stakeholder in the tourism sector.

The snowfall on Sunday draped the tourist resorts and the higher reaches of the Valley in white, to much delight of tourists.

“We are thrilled to see the snow. This experience is amazing. I am at loss of words to describe this magical experience,” said Sangeeta, a tourist from Jaipur.

She said it was for the first time that they had been to Kashmir and experienced snow. “It feels lovely. Everyone here is jubilant now that it snowed. We feel lucky to be here,” she said gleefully.

Another tourist, Ritika, from Delhi, said the snowfall has enriched their experience. “The tourists are enjoying the snow very much. The atmosphere is very good,” she said.

Many of the tourists had prepared their itinerary in view of the wet spell forecast by the India Meteorological Department.

“We had planned our journey according to the forecast. It feels so good that our plan is a success,” Kartik, a tourist from Maharashtra, said, as his friends played with snow and threw snowballs at each other.

About the April 22 Pahalgam attack and the security situation in the Valley, Kartik said Kashmir feels safe and their experience so far has been very good.

“There is no issue of safety. It feels safe everywhere. We have had a very good experience so far. People should come here,” he said, adding, “Everyone is welcoming here, the people of Kashmir are very nice.”

His friend, Arjun, said the sense of security depends upon the people of the place.

“It depends on both the sides. If you get a good experience, like when you are treated as family by the people here, everything feels nice. Then, you do not feel unsafe,” he said.

Upbeat after the snowfall, and the traction it has got on social media, Kashmir’s tourism industry is hoping for a revival.

Rauf Tramboo of Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) said the snowfall has led to an increase in the number of queries by prospective visitors.

“Everyone was waiting for the snow. Its visuals have spread far and wide on the social media and tourist queries have increased which is encouraging. If it holds up, we’ll see a revival in the tourism sector in the coming days,” Tramboo told PTI.

He said travel operators are expecting high tourist footfall during the Christmas-New Year period.

“Christmas bookings are good, and the queries for New Year’s Eve are also increasing, especially for Gulmarg. People are looking for popular packages. Even if we have about 30-40 per cent capacity, that will pave way for the main season,” he said.

Tramboo said the stakeholders were upbeat and would put in their best efforts to market and promote Kashmir.

“We are all upbeat. We have many things in the pipeline. We are focussing on marketing and plan to hold some road shows across India. We may not get what we had in the past few years, but it is essential in terms of confidence-building to control the damage due to what happened in April and November,” he added.

The stakeholders are now pinning hopes on another wet spell and the New Year.

“Now, we need good spells of snow. Even if there is 40 per cent (booking), we are on the track then,” the TAAK member said.

Hotelier, Asif Burza, described snowfall as a good omen for Kashmir. “After the setback we had initially, people have started to come back to their favourite destination,” he said.

Burza said the snowfall has pushed up queries.

“Queries have increased. Other than the traditional winter destination of Gulmarg, a good number of queries are for Pahalgam as well, because in winters, no other place can match the natural landscapes of Pahalgam,” the hotelier, who has properties in Srinagar, Pahalgam and Gulmarg, said. (PTI)