Snowfall bring cheers to tourists

Sonamarg, Jan 31: The first heavy spell of snowfall this year has brought cheer to hundreds of tourists visiting the famed Sonamarg health resort in Ganderbal district.

Sonamarg received the first heavy snowfall since Tuesday after a prolonged dry weather, which brought cheers on the faces of hundreds of tourists visiting the famous resort.

Sonamarg received about 1 feet of snow since Monday, draping the health resort in a blanket of white.

Hundreds of tourists including children were seen enjoying the snowfall at Sonamarg despite the fresh snowfall bringing down the temperature.

“We are enjoying the snowfall and feel lucky that we witnessed it this time,” a tourist from Mumbai said.

“We were here for a couple of days and had not seen snow. The snowfall brought us so much joy,” another tourist from Bangalore said.

Meanwhile, hoteliers and people associated with the tourism at Sonamarg are expecting good business after the snowfall.

“Tourists always love snow and we expect that the number of tourists will increase in the coming days after the snow which will have a good impact on our business,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a hotelier. “Everyone associated with tourism is upbeat after the snowfall and hopefully the tourist footfall will increase.”

Another hotelier said that as of now there was not much tourist footfall at Sonamarg, however, they were expecting more tourist arrivals from now onwards.

The administration has kept Sonamarg open during winter this year to promote it as a winter tourist destination.

For the first time various programmes, sports, and events were held on the New Year’s occasion at Sonamarg.