Winter of hope
As November draws to a close, and we head deep into the winter with expected snowfall in the near future, there’s expectation that this will also lift up the Valley’s tourism sector, otherwise buffeted by the successive violent incidents this year. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed this hope while speaking at a tourism-related event on Saturday. He said the Pahalgam attack in April and the car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort in November had dealt major blows to the industry, followed by an accidental explosion at Nowgam Police Station earlier this month, which further added to public concern. Pahalgam attack shattered what had looked like a record-breaking year for tourism followed by two successive tourism-packed years. Each incident has shifted perceptions, and unsettled an economy deeply reliant on the annual flow of visitors.
Summer and autumn, the Valley’s most lucrative seasons, were effectively wiped out. Hotels that had expected full-capacity bookings ran half-empty. For a region where tourism accounts for nearly 7 percent of GDP and shapes the income of countless families, these disruptions ripple far beyond the statistical losses.
The winter thus offers hope. Snowfall leads to a visible revival. Enquiries for winter bookings start trickling in, and Gulmarg’s snow-covered slopes, among Asia’s premier ski destinations, draw attention.
The government, to its credit, has acted with urgency. The reopening of 28 tourist sites previously closed after the Pahalgam attack is a welcome decision, as is the administration’s push to deepen promotional campaigns abroad and within India. Targeting markets like Singapore and Southeast Asia, alongside domestic hubs like Mumbai and Bengaluru, is essential. Kashmir cannot afford to lose visibility to emerging winter destinations in Himachal, Uttarakhand, or Europe.
But snowfall will not be enough to get tourists back in the numbers we saw in the recent years. Visitors must feel not only welcome but safe. and infrastructure must be reliable. It goes without saying that the sense of security is paramount, and once the normalcy holds as is the case now, tourists will generally prefer Kashmir over the other destinations in the country.
