Rejoice if you are planning a trip to Jammu and Kashmir between April and June, as you will qualify for a flat 20 to 30 per cent discount on holiday packages.
Wahid Malik, president, Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Federation, made the announcement while addressing the media on Monday.
The federation stated that the number of domestic tourists has surpassed that of foreign tourists, who are headed to the Kashmir Valley. Tourists from Maharashtra, especially, have thronged the valley in large numbers over the past few years.
“Last year, of the one crore domestic tourists who visited J&K, 20 lakh were from Maharashtra. This is the highest from any Indian state,” said Malik.
Tourists from Gujarat, especially from the diamond city of Surat, came a close second. The federation was hopeful of an influx of one crore tourists in summer.
Dr Vishwas Kelkar, president, Travel Agents Association of Pune (TAAP), said the “fear factor” associated with the Valley often led to Indian tourists giving it a wide berth.
“We try and convince tourists that the Valley is safe as terrorist activities are restricted to specific areas,” he added. Other than the traditional and popular places such as Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam, Kelkar said people were now ready to visit off-beat destinations in Kashmir, including the Jhelum river and other places that showcased “real beauty”. Not only this, he added that there was a demand of adventure tourism with families choosing activities like river rafting.
He further said that demand for activities such as trekking, bicycle trails, river rafting, paragliding, skiing, snow scooter riding, ice skating and golfing were high in places such as Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Leh, Kargil and Jammu. This was, in turn, attracting tourists in other seasons making Jammu and Kashmir an all-weather holiday destination.
The new destinations on the cards that are being promoted by travel agencies include Bangus Valley, Tosa Maidan, Simthan top, Gurez Valley, Lolab Valley and Doodhpathri, among others.
Riyaz Shah, deputy director of tourism, said the varied landscape of Jammu and Kashmir was a major attraction not only for Indians but also for foreigners.
“We are expecting to double the number of arrivals from foreign countries to 1.5 lakh from 75,000, this year,” he said.
