Tuesday’s terror assault in Pahalgam hits on the coronary heart of the Valley’s tourism sector, which has proven a near-constant development since 2018 and has been touted as probably the most vital indicator of “normalcy” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Officers and stakeholders say terrorists selected the height vacationer season within the Valley, when the meadows and Mughal gardens entice hundreds of holiday makers to witness the spring. It additionally came about at a vacation spot that’s on each vacationer’s itinerary — Pahalgam in South Kashmir. Pahalgam is critical for a number of causes — it serves as one of many two routes to the Amarnath cave, which attracts lakhs of pilgrims yearly, and it’s house to the Baisaran pine forest, a well-liked trekking route.
The assault, business insiders say, could have vital ramifications for the sector, which had slowly emerged from the lengthy shadow solid by terror assaults. Rauf Tramboo, president of the Journey Brokers Affiliation of Kashmir, known as the assault is a “large blow”. He stated that the previous few years noticed development within the sector owing to a “peaceable state of affairs”, however now “we’re already receiving queries on cancellations from companies and client companions”.
The ripples, stakeholders say, shall be felt throughout the Valley because the sector employs hundreds – from these plying shikaras to lodge workers.
The Centre has been proactive in selling J&Ok as a tourist-friendly vacation spot. In Could 2023, Srinagar hosted the third G20 tourism working group assembly, which noticed participation from a minimum of 60 international delegates, albeit beneath a multi-tiered safety set-up.
Over the previous few years, a brand new coverage was launched to encourage the internet hosting of occasions in Kashmir, and a movie coverage was developed to advertise the taking pictures of movies in J&Ok.
Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha has additionally described tourism numbers as a “key indicator” of peace. On April 19, he stated in Srinagar that “secessionism and terrorism haven’t any future in J&Ok”. Earlier, he had stated, “Jammu Kashmir mein aman, chain aur shanti, tourism ke raaste hello bahaal ho sakti hai (peace can solely be restored in J&Ok by tourism).”
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Talking within the Meeting final month, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that over 23 million vacationers visited J&Ok in 2024. As per the state tourism division, in 2018, the 12 months earlier than the revocation of Article 370 and the following clampdown, over 1.6 crore vacationers visited the state. Of this, 8.3 lakh visited Kashmir.
These injured within the terror assault being taken for therapy, in Anantnag district on Tuesday. (Photograph: PTI)
This quantity dropped to five.65 lakh (Kashmir) in 2019 owing to the lockdown and communication blockade within the Valley. The next 12 months, with the pandemic, tourism numbers to Kashmir got here down to simply over 41,000. Nevertheless, post-Covid, the numbers have steadily elevated, and 2023 recorded an inflow of over 2 crore, with over 27 lakh vacationers visiting the Valley alone.
However earlier than he took over as CM, Omar had struck a notice of warning in Could 2022, saying, “Tourism is just not normalcy, it’s a barometer of financial exercise. Normalcy is the absence of worry, the absence of terror, the shortcoming of militants to strike at will, the presence of democratic rule and by any yardstick you select to make use of, Kashmir is much from regular at this time.”