Officials said that the cable car located in deep Himalayas near the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Baramulla has given impetus to tourism
Srinagar : For the first time since its inception in 1998, Gulmarg Gondola, one of Asia’s highest aerial tramways, saw over a million tourists and locals enjoying rides in financial year 2023-24.
Officials said that the cable car located in deep Himalayas near the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Baramulla has given impetus to tourism. “Gulmarg Gondola soars to new heights! For the first time ever, more than one million tourists took the Gulmarg Gondola cable car ride in the financial year 2023-24,” said J&K tourism department in a post on micro-blogging platform X.
“Revenue crosses more than ₹110 crore. J&K tourism sees unprecedented growth which continues to surpass all previous figures,” the post added.
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“Tourists consider their trip to Gulmarg incomplete without the Gondola ride. They say what is there to the ski resort without its icon, the Gondola,” said Javed ur Rehman, former assistant director tourism, who was transferred from the ski resort a couple of months ago.
Last financial year (2022-23), the revenue by the Cable Car Corporation running the Gondola was nearly ₹100 crore. In 2020-21, it was ₹47.81 crore.
Gulmarg, also called the meadow of flowers, is located in the Pir Panjal mountain range in the western Himalayas, nearly 50km from Srinagar. The place is defined as a cup-shaped valley with virgin peaks, dry curry powder snow and vast meadows which attract majority of the tourists pouring into the Valley. The Gulmarg Gondola is the flagship attraction of Kashmir tourism, at a height of 13,500 ft, Asia’s highest operating cable car.
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The Gondola has two phases – first phase takes a person to Kongdori bowl at a height of 2,650m (8,694 ft) and costs ₹740 per head. The second phase soars to sky touching Apharwat, at a height of 3,980m (13,058 ft), and costs ₹950 per head. The ropeway has 108 cabins and 18 towers.
The Gulmarg Gondola project was conceived in 1988, a year before a bloody insurgency broke out in Kashmir. The work resumed in the year 1998 for completion of the phase-I of the project running from Gulmarg to Kongdori after which it was thrown open to the public in May 1998.
In the past two to three years, the officials took multiple initiatives to ensure that visitors have a better experience at the tourist attraction, including online ticket registration. The corporation has also improved the public utilities, such as washrooms and food counters.
In 2022, the Valley saw the highest-ever arrival of tourists at 26.73 lakh, of whom 15.42 lakh made it to Gulmarg. “In 2023, the number of tourists who visited the Gulmarg resort touched 16.5 lakh,” added Rehman.
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