Valley awaits tourists after Amarnath Yatra success

With the annual Amarnath Yatra concluding this week and over 4 lakh pilgrims participating, it has provided a much-needed boost to the Valley’s struggling tourism industry, which is hopeful of a broader revival.

Following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed 26 lives, the Valley’s tourism sector came to a virtual standstill, with hotels and guesthouses facing massive cancellations.

The Amarnath Yatra, which began on July 3 amid heightened security measures following the Pahalgam attack, ended this week with official figures confirming that 4,00,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir.

The successful completion of the Yatra has generated renewed optimism among stakeholders in the tourism industry. Farooq Ahmed Kathoo, a Srinagar-based tourism expert, told The Tribune that the number of tourists has started to rise. “The pilgrimage was conducted successfully and the situation remained stable throughout the Yatra,” he said. “Now, we hope tourists from various parts of the country will begin visiting again and benefit from the warm hospitality of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Kathoo added that the successful Yatra has been a significant confidence booster for prospective travellers. “We are quite optimistic about leisure tourism picking up in the coming months,” he said. He also noted that operators “have started receiving inquiries not only for the autumn season but also for winter.”

“There was a time when we did not have a single customer for days. Now, we receive numerous inquiries daily for the upcoming seasons. It feels like life is slowly returning,” he said. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah echoed similar sentiments on Wednesday. “The current situation is vastly different from what it was after the April 22 attack. The Yatra went well, with four lakh pilgrims undertaking the pilgrimage from Baltal and Pahalgam routes, and the situation remained good throughout,” he said.

To further revive tourism, the Jammu and Kashmir government has launched an outreach programme. Omar Abdullah recently visited West Bengal and Gujarat as part of the initiative. Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also said last month that tourism in the Union Territory is witnessing a strong revival. A meeting of Tourism Secretaries from various states and Union Territories was recently held in Srinagar to discuss further initiatives.

On the ground, tourism operators remain cautiously optimistic. “Tourists from different states have started to return, but the numbers are still low. We are hopeful that more will come, especially after the peaceful Yatra,” said a hotelier from Gurez, a popular tourist destination in North Kashmir. The administration has recently reopened Gurez Valley to both local and outside tourists after it was closed in the wake of the April attack. In late April, authorities had shut down several destinations across Jammu and Kashmir due to security concerns. In June, a phased reopening began, allowing access to eight destinations each in the Jammu and Kashmir regions.

“Yatra was successfully held this year, which sent a positive signal outside,” said Mushtaq Pahalgami, head of the Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners Association. “We are now waiting to see tourists return to Kashmir so that we can witness the numbers we had before April 22.”