THE national general secretary of the BJP Tarun Chug said on Saturday that his organisation has transformed Kashmir from a centre of terrorism into a tourist destination. New Delhi, he said at a press conference in Srinagar, was making every effort to bring prosperity, peace, and development to Jammu and Kashmir. Chug was referring to the boom in tourism in the union territory over the last year. More than 20 lakh tourists, including 3.65 lakh Amarnath yatris and over ten thousand foreigners, have visited Kashmir during 2022. The final figure, however, will be known by the end of this month.
According to the tourist officials, this is the highest number of tourists Kashmir has received so far, beating by far even the pre-turmoil period record. The occupancy rate for houseboats has been over 80 percent. Up to 10,000 people, most of them from the other areas of India have been visiting Kashmir in over 100 flights per day. Also thousands of people are visiting the Valley by road. Most hotels were booked through the summer with tourist resorts like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Dal lake attracting the most tourists.
A combination of factors has made the tourism boom possible: One, the decline in the violence and public unrest over the last three years has drawn more and people from the rest of the country to the Valley. Second, Covid-19 fallout which severely reduced the options to go abroad and third the sweltering summer in mainland India which forced people to escape to colder places like Kashmir. And now winter and the snow, a novelty in mainland India, is attracting more tourists.
The Tourism department has said that an advertising campaign across major Indian cities and the opening of new destinations also helped. The UT government has also increased the options for tourists by developing more resorts. For example, Aharbal, Yusmarg, Tosamaidan, Gurez, historic old city in Srinagar are finding a prominent place on the tourist map of Kashmir. These places need further development of tourist infrastructure and also wider publicity for people to visit. And in the Jammu division, the government is promoting Patnitop, Sanasar and Bhaderwah to be the go-to places for the Vaishno Devi pilgrims. Besides this, the government is also trying to bolster the tourism infrastructure in the UT. There is a plan to set up three five star hotels in the Valley and the government is in the process of identifying land for them.
The overall effect of the boom in tourism on the Valley’s situation has been salutary, as highlighted by Chug. On a positive note, he has indicated that Assembly elections are most likely to be held in the UT by April-May next year. The exercise should hopefully consolidate the gains in recent years. Here’s looking forward to the more prosperous Jammu and Kashmir in 2023.
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