‘Chalo Kashmir’ campaign a glimmer of hope for Valley tourism
Tourism stakeholders, albeit agreeing that revival of the sector will take some time, say that this will have a positive impact on tourist arrivals across the Valley
With tourism industry in a state of crisis in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, and the Jammu and Kashmir government adopting a “wait and watch policy”, the “Chalo Kashmir” campaign launched by travel agencies in Kolkata and some Himalayan region is a glimmer of hope for the sector.
Tourism stakeholders, albeit agreeing that revival of the sector will take some time, say that this will have a positive impact on tourist arrivals across the Valley.
They say tourist arrivals dried up after the April 22 terror attack at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives, 25 tourists and a local.
J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said they will wait for the situation to improve for the revival of tourism.
“Tourism has been hit but for now, we are not doing anything regarding its revival. Let the situation first improve and after that, we will sit with the stakeholders and chalk out a plan for the revival of tourism,” Omar told reporters in Ganderbal.
There has been a positive response from some travel agencies, particularly in West Bengal. According to reports, nearly 100 travel agencies and affiliated partners in Kolkata have united under the ‘Chalo Kashmir’ campaign, to show support for tourism revival.
Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) expressed gratitude for the campaign.
“Not only Kolkata travel agencies, the support has come from Maharashtra and Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). They held meetings and pledged support to Kashmir to promote it as a tourist destination. They also want to hold its annual/biannual meetings here, giving message that they are with Kashmir tourism,” said TAAK secretary general Sajad Ahmad Kralyari.
He said such initiatives will help the revival of the sector. “Gestures like these will obviously help. But the revival will be 20-30%, which otherwise would have been 100% till September,” he said.
The Valley saw an exodus of tourists after the Pahalgam attack. “After the attack, there was an instant cancellation of 80% of the bookings. After the war-like situation, the cancellations reached 95%. There was some inflow of tourists for the past few days after airfares and hotel tariffs went down. The hoteliers here have cut rates by almost 30%,” said Sameer Ahmad, a travel agent in Srinagar.
Kashmir has witnessed record tourist arrivals for the past three years. According to J&K tourism department, nearly 35 lakh tourists visited the Himalayan valley last year, up from 31.55 lakh in 2023 and 26.73 lakh in 2022. This year, the number had crossed 6 lakh before the Pahalgam attack.
