Kashmir wants normalcy & its tourists back
Almost a month after the deadly
Pahalgam terror attack
that escalated tensions between India and Pakistan and led to Operation Sindoor, the travel industry is planning special packages through tie-ups with airlines, hotels and campaigns to gradually revive tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Industry bodies such as
Travel Agents Association of India
(TAAI) and
Indian Association of Tour Operators
(IATO) said they would appeal to the government and relevant authorities to ensure
safety and security of tourists
and restore traveller trust.
TAAI said besides requesting Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and relevant authorities to ensure strong security measures, it plans to work with hotels, and local tourism operators to offer special promotional packages and "personalised care" as part of a 'Let's visit J&K' campaign.
The industry body said it is inviting airline partners to provide promotional airfares. "We are planning to encourage people to travel from June onwards if the ceasefire continues and things go well," said Sunil Kumar, president of TAAI.
IATO president Ravi Gosain said the attack on tourists was specifically to derail tourism. "Moving forward, we need to see that these perpetrators do not succeed," he said. The association plans to send out agents first to assess and evaluate the situation on the ground, he added.
Habibullah Pandow, MD of Kamran Tours and Travels, and the vice president of Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, said the number of tourists in Kashmir have trickled down to hundreds since the attack. He said the central and state governments need to play a pivotal role in restoring tourists' trust. "Within the country, our domestic flow is enough for Kashmir, and we will think of roadshows," Pandow said.
"Overtime, Kashmir has also become an expensive domestic package and we will have to look at discounted and reasonably priced packages on a demand and supply basis," he added.
The J&K hotel occupancy has ranged between 50% and 60% and it was one of the earlier markets to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic, with occupancy crossing 50% as early as in the first quarter of 2021, said Karan Mahesh, senior sales, South and Southeast Asia, at STR, a CoStar Group firm.
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