Local tourism department officials have said that more than 12.5 lakh tourists have visited Kashmir so far and as per the current trend, all previous records are likely to be broken in the year 2024.
At present, all the local hotels in Srinagar city, ski resorts of Gulmarg and hill stations of Pahalgam and Sonamarg are completely sold out by mid-June.
"What is true of hotels in these places is also true of guest houses, homestay houseboats on Dal and Nigeen lakes and other accommodation facilities in Kashmir at present," said an official here.
More encouraging this year is the fact that with the improvement in law and order situation and prevailing peace, foreign tourists have started visiting Kashmir in good numbers.
“When foreign tourists start coming to Kashmir, we earn foreign exchange.Furthermore, most foreign tourists are high-end tourists whose average expenditure during their stay is higher than the average domestic tourist. It is not that domestic tourists do not include high class guests. Some of our 5-star hotels in the Valley are also completely sold out these days and most of their guests are domestic spenders,” said a member of the Hotelier Club of Kashmir.
The number of tourists usually starts decreasing with the beginning of the annual Amarnath Yatra due to the huge crowd of pilgrims coming to visit the cave temple located at an altitude of 3888 meters above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.
This year Amarnath Yatra will start from 29th June and end after 52 days on 19th August.Hoteliers believe that considering the number of bookings being made currently, it is unlikely that the upcoming Amarnath Yatra will affect tourist arrivals.
One reason for the unexpected decline in the number of tourist arrivals in Kashmir this year is the rising temperatures in the rest of the country.
“Of course there are other hill stations in the country like Shimla, Darjeeling and Nainital, but they cannot match the tourist potential of Kashmir,” says a local tour and travel operator who has been in the business for over four decades.
At present tourists are coming to the valley mainly from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Local tour and travel operators say that the arrival of tourists from Delhi and Punjab will start in the middle of next month.Tourism industry is the second main industry in Kashmir after horticulture. Horticulture is believed to generate Rs 10,000 crore for the local economy, while the tourism industry invests Rs 8000 crore annually in the local economy.
While earnings from horticulture are limited to garden owners, tourism extends to hoteliers, houseboat owners, shikarawals on Dal Lake, tax operators, pony vendors, tourist guides and travel operators besides handicrafts such as shawls, carpets, wood carvings and paper machines. Provides sustenance to the artisans.Artisan.
At present, all the local hotels in Srinagar city, ski resorts of Gulmarg and hill stations of Pahalgam and Sonamarg are completely sold out by mid-June.
"What is true of hotels in these places is also true of guest houses, homestay houseboats on Dal and Nigeen lakes and other accommodation facilities in Kashmir at present," said an official here.
More encouraging this year is the fact that with the improvement in law and order situation and prevailing peace, foreign tourists have started visiting Kashmir in good numbers.
“When foreign tourists start coming to Kashmir, we earn foreign exchange.Furthermore, most foreign tourists are high-end tourists whose average expenditure during their stay is higher than the average domestic tourist. It is not that domestic tourists do not include high class guests. Some of our 5-star hotels in the Valley are also completely sold out these days and most of their guests are domestic spenders,” said a member of the Hotelier Club of Kashmir.
The number of tourists usually starts decreasing with the beginning of the annual Amarnath Yatra due to the huge crowd of pilgrims coming to visit the cave temple located at an altitude of 3888 meters above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.
This year Amarnath Yatra will start from 29th June and end after 52 days on 19th August.Hoteliers believe that considering the number of bookings being made currently, it is unlikely that the upcoming Amarnath Yatra will affect tourist arrivals.
One reason for the unexpected decline in the number of tourist arrivals in Kashmir this year is the rising temperatures in the rest of the country.
“Of course there are other hill stations in the country like Shimla, Darjeeling and Nainital, but they cannot match the tourist potential of Kashmir,” says a local tour and travel operator who has been in the business for over four decades.
At present tourists are coming to the valley mainly from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Local tour and travel operators say that the arrival of tourists from Delhi and Punjab will start in the middle of next month.Tourism industry is the second main industry in Kashmir after horticulture. Horticulture is believed to generate Rs 10,000 crore for the local economy, while the tourism industry invests Rs 8000 crore annually in the local economy.
While earnings from horticulture are limited to garden owners, tourism extends to hoteliers, houseboat owners, shikarawals on Dal Lake, tax operators, pony vendors, tourist guides and travel operators besides handicrafts such as shawls, carpets, wood carvings and paper machines. Provides sustenance to the artisans.Artisan.
