Restaging Brand Kashmir - Crisis to a Catalyst!
I was not born in Kashmir - I was born to it.
My parents moved out in the early 70’s, but the Valley lived in our stories, our food and our celebrations. The connection with Kashmir was built over countless summer holidays at my matamaal where our belonging quietly took root between the mountain air and family bonding.
This bond deepened when my wife, born and brought up in Kashmir, and I visited again in 2013. The devastating 2014 floods saw us rush back, not just to help but to reconnect with our roots. Amid the chaos, we realized something more powerful: our genes were navigating us home.
Walking the corporate corridors across India, I would often ask colleagues in disbelief, “You’ve never been to Kashmir?!” Over time, this became a running joke. Friends fondly called me “The Kashmir Travel Desk”. I would plan their itineraries, suggest stays and even escort them, delighted, in my own small way, I was helping people discover a paradise too often misunderstood. A sherpa to the soul of Kashmir!
Brand Bloodied Again.
For the past few years, the bounce was back in the valley, hotels and homestays were outselling capacity, the flights were packed and if you were lucky or knew someone a taxi was made available. Young entrepreneurs jumped onto the happy bandwagon, entering the ecosystem with passion and pride. Kashmir had found its rhythm of hope in a somewhat chaotic new dawn.
That afternoon in April shattered this new narrative. The Pahalgam attack was not just a human tragedy it was an assault on the fragile confidence that had finally allowed Kashmir to rise again. The bullets did not just kill 26 innocent people, they wounded the idea of Kashmir itself – the spirit of welcome, economy of peace and its dream of rediscovery.
This attack and its aftermath crashed the happy ride, tourism froze in its tracks, as cancellations poured in, operators closed the book on itineraries, hotels stood vacant and flights were suddenly empty. For countless small business owners – shikaras, pony boys, café owners to handicraft sellers – this wasn’t a pause it was a tragic paralysis. Hundreds of small businesses struggled to repay loans, salaries or rent. The thriving ecosystem almost evaporated.
“Time” is Not a Strategy.
Time does not heal trust, action does. Kashmir cannot afford to wait for perception to self-correct. Without visible, credible and collective measures the brand would continue to bleed quietly. What Kashmir needs today is not sympathy but a strategic perception revival, an emergency restaging of Brand Kashmir. Every day of silence and inaction hardens an already ossified perception.
Much good has been happening in Kashmir – the recent cricket matches, Water Sports Festival at the Dal Lake, 69th National School Games and now the Kashmir Marathon add to that the busy buzz of start-ups, very little of this rising back gets converted into positive news outside of the valley.
Missing Marketing
Few places on Earth can match the natural poetry of the region with alpine meadows, snow-fed lakes, unmatched cuisine, religious hot-spots, centuries old crafts and all this wrapped in the warmth that has been the hallmark of hospitality. A land so gorgeously beautiful that it runs the risk of becoming a cliché of itself. Over the years, overdependence on organic appeal has disabled the system for structured marketing. Destinations with half such assets have delivered a masterclass in marketing while we’ve passively peddled our paradise.
Take the case of the JK Tourism App, a great initiative and a great example of information collated on tap. Marketing currently gives these digital assets the teeth to a) Tell & sell a story b) active collation of data and most importantly c) Convert potential customers. ‘Jannat’, the chatbot on the app, needs to be programmed to deliver that edge.
Brand Kashmir 2.0 Movement.
The Kashmir Kaleidoscope: Four distinct seasons wrap the land with texture, colour and opportunities each with its own flavour. Vibrant pop-culture steeped in heritage and natural beauty present a rare product mix. All this on the back of a globally & nationally booming numbers in tourism.
As per a Global Outlook report (The Escape Economy Report- Truth About Escapism ‘25 -McCann worldgroup) , tourism & hospitality being a large component is projected to reach US$ 3.2 Trillion by 2028 (The Escape Economy refers to a growing trend where people seek experience and lifestyles that allow them to escape from the stresses of urban life).
The biggest advantage today is the existing political will of a young progressive leader evidently hungry to make positive impact. The paths to renewal of the brand Kashmir are disparate yet intertwined, multiple strategies with a single focus, return to a revitalized paradise!
The ideas would include a coordinated brand management board to take aboard all ideas, constituencies and stakeholders leading to a unified projection. This would help build stakeholders proximity to the idea of an invitation to Kashmir, the smallest reward of this initiative would be a unified new positioning and the message that the entire ecosystem could coalesce around.
Kashmir’s many appeals would need micro-marketing strategies targeted at specific experience segments projecting a unified destination agenda. Imagine Kashmir as a venue where grand business ideas and strategies take birth. The idea is exciting, however reassurance must walk hand in hand with recovery on this journey, a roadmap of an active marketing calendar that keeps Kashmir timeless and present, everyday.
Restaging Brand Kashmir.
It’s important for us to step back and view this task of transformation from a perspective of brand relevance in the context of footfalls. The emergent destinations of the last 2 decades have ranged from Maldives and Latvia through Turkey and right up to Kerala and Kazakhstan. The results of a conscious branding strategy and targeted communications are not a mystery, they are case studies we have lived with.
For too long we’ve managed a demand driven market. As times change, immersive, experiential tourism in Kashmir would be the new dimension of the brand. Creating Destination brands needs a strategic transformation and the timing albeit tragic, is right now. And for heaven’s sake not yet another clichéd collage of lakes, mountains and the friendly guide but deeper portrayal relevant to the times.
A branding route map that journeys the distance from timeless allure of a heaven on earth to a modern-day great destination, brand traversing ethereal beauty intertwined with strife, to an adventure of the soul, self-discovery, reassurance and peace.
Welcome to a Next Generation Kashmir!
