Latest news with #KashmirHotelAssociation
India Today
29-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
'Terror will never defeat India's spirit': Tourists defy fear, return to Pahalgam
Kashmir, which fell silent a week ago after the deadly Pahalgam terror attacks, is seeing fleeting signs of life again. Tourists are trickling back to the "Paradise on Earth" as Bollywood stars and ministers lead the appeal to urge citizens not to abandon Kashmir and refuse to let terror dictate their Pahalgam carnage, which left 25 tourists and a Kashmiri dead, wasn't just an attack on civilians but a strike at an industry that is the lifeline of Kashmir. Tourism accounts for nearly 7-8 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir's GDP. It is even more for the Valley. advertisementThus, visuals of tourists leaving Pahalgam in droves after the attack raised fears of people shunning Kashmir altogether. In fact, the Kashmir Hotel Association said 80% of the bookings were cancelled immediately. However, a week on, the beginning of the return to normalcy in Kashmir seems to be well on track.'NORMALCY ROARS BACK'Union Minister Jitendra Singh led the campaign to instil confidence among tourists, posting a video from Kashmir showing people enjoying the scenic beauty of the valley and visiting tourist spots."Terror will never defeat the spirit of India. After the cowardly terror attack, hundreds of fearless tourists thronged Guldanada and Chattergalla, embracing the beauty of our land. Bhadarwah-Pathankot highway reopens after 4 days - normalcy roars back," Singh will never defeat the spirit of IndiaAfter the cowardly #PahalgamTerrorAttack, hundreds of fearless tourists thronged Guldanada and Chattergalla, embracing the beauty of our land.#Bhadarwah-Pathankot highway reopens after 4 days — normalcy roars back. Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) April 29, 2025advertisementEven Pahalgam saw a handful of visitors and foreigners at the weekend as shops opened shutters. However, security personnel and police were seen in every nook and corner of the picturesque town. Tourists, however, mostly wandered in groups."We have been here for 3–4 days and we feel very safe. Kashmir is beautiful and safe... People are very kind. We are a group of 13 people... We heard about the incident one day before we arrived in Kashmir. We came here anyway," said a tourist from URGES PEOPLE TO VISIT PARADISE ON EARTHAmong those encouraging tourists to come to Pahalgam and Kashmir was popular Bollywood actor Atul Kulkarni. Kulkarni, who visited Pahalgam days after the attack, said one should respond to the terrorists by coming to Kashmir in even larger a series of posts on Instagram, Kulkarni is seen enjoying a shikara ride in Dal Lake, having local delicacies at a shop and visiting a Kashmiri bat factory. The message was clear: Kashmir is ours. Courage is heavier than Sunil Shetty also exhorted people not to cancel their trips to Kashmir. He even said his next holiday will be to Kashmir."All should plan their holidays to Kashmir. We have to visit Kashmir as it was, is and will remain a part of our country. We will not be frightened. We have to be fearless and convey a message to terrorists," Shetty tourism back on track has been the Centre's priority after the abrogation of Article 270 in 2019. It has coincided with a rise in footfall to data, the tourist footfall in 2024 was 2.95 million, a rise from 2.71 million visitors in 2023 and 2.67 million in 2022.
Scroll.in
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
After Pahalgam attack, 48 tourist sites in Kashmir shut due to security concerns
Forty-eight of the 87 public parks and gardens in the Kashmir Valley have been closed to the public in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, PTI reported on Tuesday, quoting unidentified officials. The destinations that have been closed for inadequate security measures include the Gurez valley, Dodapathri, Verinag, the Bangus valley and Yusmarg, according to The Indian Express. The authorities have also decided to bar tourists from visiting Srinagar's Jamia Masjid. While the authorities have not issued a formal order about the closure, entry to these places has been stopped, PTI reported. The decision comes a week after the terror attack at Baisaran on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu. On Saturday, the Kashmir Hotel Association in Srinagar said that 80% of tourist bookings in the valley have been cancelled in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. 'There have been 80% cancellations in bookings,' said Mushtaq Chaya, chairperson of the association. 'We can understand. It is justified and natural given what happened.' Stakeholders in the tourism industry in the Union Territory were not worried by the dent to business, Chaya said, adding that they were 'sad with the fact that the incident took place on our soil'. India's Ministry of External Affairs had on April 24 also announced that the visas of Pakistani citizens in India would stand revoked from Sunday and that they had to leave the country before then. India also suspended visa services to Pakistani citizens with immediate effect. Following this, at least 537 Pakistani citizens left India through the Attari-Wagah border crossing in Punjab. Eighty-one Pakistani nationals left India on Saturday, 191 on Friday and 28 on Thursday. In addition, 342 Indians returned on Saturday, 287 on Friday and 105 on Thursday.
