‘We receive more than 1000 visitors daily’: Tourism picks up as COVID restrictions ease in J&K

Srinagar: Tourism has started showing signs of revival as Jammu and Kashmir government began easing curbs following a dip in the COVID cases.

More than 1000 visitors are arriving in the valley daily. A month before, not even 200 visitors would visit Kashmir given the lockdown.

Stakeholders said tourists from Maharashtra, West Bengal and New Delhi are mostly arriving in Kashmir this time around.

“On an average daily, we receive more than 1000 tourists from different states. The foreign arrival is almost negligible since the international traffic has not resumed fully. We are hoping the situation to improve further in the coming weeks,” said an official.

Officials said travel agents are receiving inquiries about travel packages.

“We are receiving inquiries from people across the country. We are also doing bookings. Now compared to the previous week, we get a good number of tourists. The number will pick up once the situation improves. This time, tourists from Maharashtra, West Bengal, and New Delhi form a major chunk of daily arrivals,” said President Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) Farooq Ahmad Kuthoo.

Kuthoo said stakeholders are ready to receive tourists as the administration has almost completed the immunization.

“Almost all the stakeholders from travel agents, hoteliers to shikarawals and hawkers have been inoculated,” Kuthoo said.

Tourism players however are dissatisfied over the lack of quarantine facilities at Srinagar airport.

“We have witnessed it earlier. Hoteliers had to create a quarantine facility on their own. As per new guidelines, it is mandatory for tourists to carry negative RTPCR reports. But still, quarantine facilities should be set up by the government for those who tests positive,” said Umar Ahmad a travel agent.

Deputy Director Tourism Ahsan ul-Haq Chesti said the department has been working on various fronts to ensure good tourist flow and safety of the people.

“We have completed vaccination of 85 percent of our stakeholders. Further, we held capacity-building programmes to ensure the safety of tourists in Kashmir. In collaboration with disaster management, the stakeholders were told about SOPs to prevent COVID infection,” he said.