Cheers as Kashmeer records large footfall of tourists after a long time

Kashmir Valley has broken all the previous records of tourist arrivals in the last three months. The Valley saw more than 3.5 lakh tourist arrivals in last three months of this year. March month saw the maximum tourist arrivals at 1.8 lakh tourists and, in the last week of April, nearly 58 thousand tourists arrived in Kashmir.

From millennials and young professionals to honeymooners and multigenerational families, the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is witnessing record levels of tourism.

The increased number of direct flights to Srinagar, in addition to the UT’s tourism department initiatives, are drawing travellers there, travel agencies said, adding that the demand for tourism in J&K in the ongoing summer travel season is four times what was witnessed pre-pandemic. Also, given that most hotels are running at near full-occupancy, room tariffs have seen a sharp increase of 40-80%.

On the business side, qualitative insights from airlines show that there is a sustained uptick in corporate travellers to Srinagar. “There are people travelling for business from international destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, etc.

In terms of destinations within J&K, tourists are flocking to places such as Pahalgam, Sonmarg, Gulmarg in addition to Srinagar.

The increase in tourist footfall has forced the government to increase the number of flights coming and leaving the Srinagar Airport.