J&K: Terror attack jolt to booming tourist season in Valley
The attack on tourists in Pahalgam has triggered panic among thousands of tourists present in the Valley and worried the tourism stakeholders at a time when the Himalayan valley had started on a booming tourist season riding high on the inflow of visitors for the past three years.
As the news of the terror attack on tourists in the remote and picturesque Baisaran in the tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir trickled in, there was a wave of fear among the tourists in Pahalgam which was teeming with tourists.
Some rushed back to their hotels while many decided to immediately cancel their trips and leave.
Rakesh Sharma, who was on a sojourn from Delhi to the Valley with his family for the past four days, decided to cut short his trip immediately. He would have left for Jammu through Srinagar-Jammu national highway, but the highway has been closed for the past three days owing to landslides due to rains in Ramban.
'It is just beyond belief. I don't care whether others stay or not. I don't want to take any chances. I just want to return to my home,' he said.
To calm down the family, their tour operator decided to shift them to Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, some 90 km from Pahalgam. 'We will try to placate the fears of the family. They have the option of staying in Srinagar till the situation improves or leave via air,' he said.
'Many tourists in Baisaran have been shifted to Pahalgam,' he said.
Kashmir has witnessed back-to-back record tourist arrivals for the past three years. Last year, 34.98 lakh tourists had visited the Himalayan valley up from 31.55 lakh in 2023 and 26.73 lakh in 2022. This year, the numbers have already reached 6 lakh.
President of Kashmir Hotels and Restaurants Owners Association Gowhar Maqbool said that a good number of tourists have started to move towards Srinagar from Pahalgam. 'I have requested all my members to provide all possible help to them. It is testing time for all of us. Let's prove our commitment to the great cause of humanity. Also, to all other tourists who are facing difficulties due to road closure,' he said.
The tourism players say that the attack has given an immediate jolt to Pahalgam tourism and there will be ripple effect across the Valley by the evening or tomorrow when the news spreads completely.
'I already have cancellations. A family from south India was coming via Katra Jammu. They decided to return immediately,' said a tour operator based in Srinagar, Sajad Ahmad.
A hotelier in Srinagar said that the panic has already set in the Valley. 'The news has not yet fully spread among the tourists in Srinagar but the visitors have already become edgy. This will definitely have a huge impact on the tourism season,' he said.
Manzoor Ahmad, a tourism cab operator who was in central Kashmir's Sonamarg with a tourist group of 40 people, said that he was worried about the impact the attack will have.
However, the tour operator Sajad Ahmad said that tourism players are keeping their fingers crossed.
'Kashmir was almost sold out this season as well. This may impact the season for some time but, going by the experience of the past, it has always bounced back,' he said.
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