K-tourism hit big time, almost all package bookings cancelled

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 4

Tourism, the mainstay of J&K’s economy, has been the worst hit by the ongoing turmoil in the Kashmir valley as the majority of the tourists have cancelled their bookings for the months of May and June. The state already witnessed an unprecedented decline in tourist footfalls in March and April.

“Almost 100 per cent of the package bookings of tourists, who had planned to visit Kashmir after visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine and other religious places in the Jammu province, have been cancelled due to the prevailing situation in the Valley,” said Rajesh Gupta, president of the Tourism Federation.

“In 2016, the tourism sector had suffered a loss of around Rs 3,000 crore due to the turmoil and the unrest. And this loss is likely to increase manifold if the prevailing situation continues,” he feared.

In Jammu and Katra alone there are over 750 tour operators and none of them have a single booking for the Valley over the next two months. In Kashmir, there are approximately 500 travel agents, who either work directly with the tour operators in other parts of the country or have a tie-up with their Jammu counterparts.

“In collaboration with the Tourism Department, we had organised trade fairs in December, January and February at different locations of the country to book packages for this year. Initially, some bookings were made but after the recent violence most of the bookings were cancelled and some have been put on hold,” said Gupta.

As the Valley had witnessed large-scale violence last year following the killing of Hizb militant Burhan Wani, a number of trade fairs were organised across the country to woo tourists. Travel agents were also invited to J&K to give a boost to tourism.

“All bookings for April were cancelled and there is nothing certain about the bookings for the next two months,” said Naseer Baktoo, a houseboat owner who has a tie-up with Jammu-based tour operators.

Most of the organised bookings to the Valley have been cancelled even though some tourists have been visiting Kashmir individually. “Since January this year, we have sent only one group to Srinagar,” said Sunil Tickoo of Taj International Tour and Travel. “Till the end of April last year, we had sent nearly 45 large groups to the Valley,” he said, adding that they didn’t have a single booking for the Valley for the next two months.

Hotel occupancy near nil

"The months of April, May and June are considered as the peak season for tourism in Kashmir. This year, the season has been spoiled by violence during the byelection. As of now, there are just 5% to 10% tourists in the Valley as compared to last year. Moreover, occupancy in hotels is almost negligible."

 Mushtaq Ahmed Wani, President, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries

Large drop in footfalls 

• In Jammu and Katra, there are over 750 tour operators and none of them have any booking for the Valley for the next two months. In Kashmir, there are approximately 500 travel agents, who either work directly with the tour operators in other parts of the country or have a tie-up with their Jammu counterparts.
• According to the figures released by the state tourism department, 12,99,112 tourists, including 24, 516 foreigners, visited J&K in 2016 as compared to 9,27,815 tourists in 2015.