The valley has got vast tourism potential but this sector has not become mainstay of Kashmir economy till date. God has endowed us with numerous natural attractions whether they are meadows, forests, mountains, rivers or the local vegetation and climate.
It is unfortunate that these assets are not explored and developed further. Instead, they are losing their value rapidly. The tagline Kashmir: the Paradise on Earth has lost appeal for high end tourists like those from the West.
The natural water bodies, the famous Dal Lake which once was 75 square km is now reduced to 11 sq.km. Same is the case with the Wular lake. According to recent survey the Wular has shrunk to 44 sq.km from 230 sq.km. Anchar lake, second biggest water body in Srinagar is dead.
It is irony that this Paradise does not figure in the list of top10 tourist destinations of India.
Apart from Gulmarg no other destination is open during winters making tourism a seasonal activity in the Valley. Sonamarg: the meadow of gold remains closed in winters. Same is the case with other attractions like Pahalgam, Yusmarg and Khilanmarg.
The other factors which have brought valley down are lack of amenities, accommodation and accessibility.
When comparing these components of tourism of Kashmir with leading tourist states like Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the valley is way behind. The garbage and waste produced during the peak tourist season in June-July are not handled in a proper way. The traffic jams make it tough for tourists to reach to the destinations in time.
Despite tourism here being age old industry has not led us to produce sufficient professionals who could manage it.
The govt. has not shown much interest towards the industry and we still do not have a tourism policy. It is because of not having tourism planning and policy that tourism in Kashmir is limited to few places and Mughal Gardens of Srinagar.
Sameer Ahmad Dar
Business School, KU, Srinagar
[email protected]
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