After taking a hit during last year’s summer unrest, tourist arrivals have now started picking up in the Kashmir valley. Officials say they have already received advance bookings and are expecting a good increase in tourist footfalls from March-end onwards with the opening of Tulip Garden.
“Arrivals have already started picking up. We are expecting a good number of tourists by the time Tulip Garden reopens,” said Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Mahmood Ahmad Shah.
Stating that though the arrivals so far were lesser as compared to the corresponding period last year, he said the department had started receiving advance bookings and the response during promotional campaigns outside J&K, too, had remained very good.
Shah said the Tourism Department had conducted an extensive country-wide promotional campaign this year to attract tourists to the Valley. Private tourism players of Kashmir actively participated in the campaign that included participation in travel marts and road shows in different states of the country. Last year, in December, leading travel agents of the country had been invited to the Valley on a ‘Fam Tour’ in an effort to woo more tourists.
Even as the tourism season would generally pick up steam in May, the Tulip Garden in Zabarwan foothills has been credited with having extended the season as it reopens by March-end.
“We are giving final touches and the garden is scheduled to open by the end of this month with a full bloom of tulips,” said Javed Ahmad Shah, a consultant for the Tulip Garden.
Even though tulips can be seen in full bloom for around a month only, the garden has been attracting tourists in advance to the Valley. The Floriculture Department had earlier engaged a specialist from Holland, John Neele, for improving the aesthetic look of the garden.
Meanwhile, tourists that have already come here are mostly seen visiting north Kashmir’s ski resort Gulmarg – the hub of winter tourism in the Valley. The resort is still covered in a thick blanket of snow and both locals and tourists can be seen enjoying skiing and gondola rides among other activities.
“We went to Pahalgam first for a night and then visited Gulmarg where we found snow everywhere. We had never imagined it will be so beautiful,” said Purva Jain, a tourist from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. “There is a presumption that going to Kashmir is dangerous but we found the atmosphere good and safe. We would love to come here twice every year – once to see the snow and then the greenery,” she said.
Tourist arrivals pick up in Kashmir
