Industry seeks government sops to revive tourism in Kashmir

Economic Times

2 days ago

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New Delhi: Airlines and the hospitality industry have asked the government for incentives to revive tourism in Jammu and Kashmir that has come to a standstill after the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam. SpiceJet and Air India have asked the government to waive the user development and aviation security fees at the Srinagar airport for a year so that they could offer cheaper tickets to passengers travelling to Kashmir. Currently the airport charges a user development fee of Rs 1,050 and aviation security fee of Rs 200 per traveller. These are included in air ticket prices.'After the Pahalgam incident, tourists are terrified, and no one is travelling to the Kashmir region. There is no demand for air travel to and from Kashmir and hotels are empty there,' the Federation of Indian Airlines wrote to the government last week. 'Apart from security and security measures, financial measures are important to rebuild traffic,' the airline lobby group said in a letter that ET has seen.The targeted attacks on tourists in Pahalgam took place at a time when Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing a tourism boom. The number of visitors was at a 15-year high, and the union territory's own revenue generation had started showing signs of improvement.On Monday, 4,061 passengers arrived at the airport, almost half of what the airport handled a day before the attack. Following the terrorist attack, India did retaliatory strikes in Pakistan during which multiple airports near the border, including Srinagar, were shut down.Airlines have also reduced flights and are operating around 50 daily flights to Srinagar compared with 92 they operated before the attack.Hotels in Kashmir are currently offering discounts of 30-50% which was never the case, said Mushtaq Reshi, president of the domestic tour operators' association in Kashmir and managing director of Essence Holidays.On Booking.com, a property such as Treebo Vitasta Villa in Srinagar is available for Rs 6,839 a night, down from Rs 16,886 before the terror strike.Mushtaq Ahmed Chaya, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Hoteliers Association and chairman and founder of the Mushtaq Group of Hotels, said his association, during a recent meeting with J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, has sought support for hoteliers in terms of interest waivers on loans for at least six months. "We have also requested for relief on electricity bills and other expenses. The business is badly hit and occupancies are almost zero," he added.Ravi Gosain, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said he would urge the government to give incentives like lower taxes on hotels and flights for at least one year as a one-off measure."Further, tour operators should be invited and the government should undertake a campaign to underline that Kashmir is safe and secure to travel. Additionally, the film industry should be given incentives to shoot (there) as that also helps greatly in wooing travellers," he added.Meanwhile, the Travel Agents Association of India has started an event, called Rally for Valley, in Kashmir on Tuesday."The situation is quite pathetic in terms of business for hotels,' said association president Sunil Kumar. 'Seventy-five of our association members are in Kashmir (for the event) from the North, West and South India … We can't expect people to travel here unless we lead by example. So, we will spend three days in Kashmir," he said.Umar Tramboo, chairman of Pinnacle Resorts that operates The Khyber in Gulmarg, said if the government can allow exemption on GST for six months to one year, it will help encourage tourism. "This exemption should be applicable to all businesses allied to tourism like transportation, gondola and tour operators," he said. Nazir Rah, MD, Rah Bagh by The Orchard, Srinagar said hoteliers, especially those who have loans, are seeking support from the government as they would like some relief in terms of relaxation on monthly EMIs until business returns for the better.