• Focus on making Kashmir a high-end tourist destination: Dir Tourism
• Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonmarg, Clock Tower Sgr identified for New Year celebrations
Srinagar, Dec 23: Almost three million tourists including foreigners visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 despite a slight fall in the arrivals due to assembly polls in September-October months.
This is for the first time that tourist arrivals have shown a huge spurt despite the fact J&K witnessed two back-to-back elections—Parliamentary polls in April-May and Assembly elections in September-October.
In an exclusive conversation with Rising Kashmir on the sidelines of a ‘Cake Competition’ at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Srinagar, Director Tourism Raja Yaqoob Farooq said that last year, the department registered 2.7 million tourist arrivals including foreigners. “This year, the number has touched three million including Shri Amarnathji pilgrims,” he said.
He said the number of foreign tourists also witnessed a surge. “Overall, there is a ten per cent increase in the tourist flow this year compared to last year. This is despite the fact that there was a slight dip in tourist arrivals during Assembly polls (September-October),” he said.
About the New Year preparations and celebrations, the Director Tourism said that this year the department has added three more places to the list where there would be grand New Year events. “Gulmarg is there as always but this time Pahalgam, Sonmarg and Clock Tower at Lal Chowk, Srinagar will also witness grand new year celebrations,” Farooq said.
He said the motive behind choosing three more destinations for new year celebrations is to send a message to both domestic as well as foreign tourists that Kashmir is a peaceful tourist destination ready to host guests from all over the world.
“Usually, June and July is our peak tourism season and we can’t expect the same flow in November month. But since elections were held in September-October, November and December saw a huge tourist influx,” he said.
He said due to increased flow of tourists, air tickets are in much demand. “All hotels in major tourist destinations are showing 80 to 90 per cent booking in advance, for Christmas and new year celebrations,” Farooq said.
Highlighting the directions from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Director Tourism said the effort is to make Kashmir a high-end tourist destination. “Focus is not on the volume but on the value,” he said.
Present on the occasion, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir V K Bhiduri said that earlier tourism was confined to Gulmarg vis-à-vis winter tourism. “This time, new destinations have been added including Sonmarg and Pahalgam,” he said
