J&K Bird Festival is being organized at a time when tourism in Kashmir desperately needs a lifeline. The sector has received a severe blowback after the Pahalgam attack. Before April 22, the valley was bursting at the seams with tourists. Over 5.25 lakh tourists had visited the valley in the first three months of 2025. These include 5,14,845 domestic and 10,427 foreign tourists. A record 2.35 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2024. Domestic tourist numbers shot up tenfold, from 25.19 lakh in 2020 to 2.35 crore in 2024. However, everything came crashing down on April 22 when terrorists unleashed a bloodbath in Pahalgam. For the last eight months, the number of tourists visiting Kashmir has reduced to a trickle. The bird festival offers a hope for tourism revival in Kashmir. The next five days offer a chance for tourists and naturalists to spend a day with our winged guests. Bird walks, debates, film screening, art competition, trekking, plantation, and photo exhibition will be held in the next five days at different wetlands. The highlight of the festival will be a birding event at Chatlam Wetland Reserve, which currently houses 15000 migratory birds, and trekking at Badtalaw forests in Khrerw Conservation Reserve. All these events are aimed at reviving tourism in Kashmir. Focus is also on promoting Pampore as the first sustainable tourism destination of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government has notified 4861.28 sq km as the Protected Area Network. It comprises 4 National Parks, 14 Wildlife Sanctuaries, and 30 Conservation and Wetland Reserves. In 2022, the Centre designated the Hygam and Shallbugh wetlands as Ramsar sites to boost conservation efforts in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, Wular and Hokarsar were designated as Ramsar sites. Kashmir has around 400 water bodies, of which 25 are the winter destination for migratory birds. From leisure tourism to bird tourism, the Jammu and Kashmir government is pulling out all the stops to revive the battered sector. The tourism industry is the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy. It contributes between 7% and 8% to the J&K Gross State Domestic Product. With the total GSDP estimated at Rs 2.65 lakh crore, tourism accounts for Rs 18,500 crore to Rs 21,200 crore. There are more than 5000 registered hotels and homestays in Kashmir alone. The majority of them have had either no booking or less than 10 percent post-Pahalgam attack. The government’s efforts are praiseworthy. Yet more needs to be done for tourism revival. The dark phase of 2025 is behind us. We need to prepare carefully for 2026. Our tourism planners need to look for out-of-the-box ideas to woo tourists back to Kashmir. Our hoteliers, houseboat owners, and homestays need to offer discounted packages to attract tourists. The government alone cannot revive the tourism sector; the stakeholders, too, need to contribute to make this happen.
Bird festival
