Despite the extreme winter of Kashmir, which lasts for at least two months every year, the state witnessed the arrival of over 40,000 tourists and most of them thronged the famous ski destination of Gulmarg.
The tourism industry in the Valley has been struggling for the past few years due to the low arrival of tourists and footfall in winter is seen as a silver lining for the upcoming season.
Otherwise, the hotel occupancy in Valley has hovered between 10 per cent and 20 per cent for past two years now.
The official tourism figures reveal that around 28,000 tourists have arrived in December 2018 and around 13,000 tourists have arrived in January till now.
“Seventy per cent of the tourists go to Gulmarg in winters for skiing and other winter games. There is an increase of 45 per cent in arrival of foreign tourist and we hope to capitalize on that and get more arrivals in upcoming season. Last year, around 829,526 tourists visited the Valley,” a tourism official said. In 2018, tourist arrival from Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia has also increased.
The ongoing crisis in the tourism industry has left hundreds of people unemployed and many stake-holders have also changed their businesses in the wake of massive loans and other liabilities.
Tags: Kashmir Tourism’
