More than a million visitors had visited Kashmir as of mid-May, with the J&K administration preparing for record-breaking tourist numbers this year.
This year, Kashmir's tourism industry is booming, with potential foreign arrivals. Hotels, houseboats, and homestays are all booked this season.
"We have already received over a million tourists through mid-May. We are having a better season than last year, with promising foreign arrivals," Raja Yaqoob, Director Tourism Kashmir, said.
The director of tourism stated that they hope to break the previous record due to the steady flow of tourists during winter, spring, and summer.
“The previous year’s record of mammoth tourists arrivals will be broken this year. We are ready for a record breaking number this year,” he said.
According to Yaqoob, in addition to the big tourist sites, offbeat places like as Daksun, Doodhpathri, and others would see a significant increase in tourism this year. "The good news is that we see tourists discovering alternative areas in Kashmir. From Daksun to Doodhpathri, Keran, and other sites, tourists like exploring," he remarked.
The director tourism is supported by the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), which asserts that the summer season is fully booked with tourists from India and around the world.
“We are witnessing an uninterrupted flow of tourists currently. We are expecting the flow to sustain for the rest of the months and hope to break previous tourism records,” he said.
The valley is currently receiving bulk tourists from Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where the temperature is abnormally high this season.
“Currently, higher flow of tourists is being witnessed from Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Chennai. We are equally receiving a good number of tourists from Bangalore also,” he said.
Hoteliers said currently all the hotels are booked till the second week of June. “We have 100 percent occupancy right now. As summer vacations will be over in Maharashtra and Gujarat in the second week of June, we will receive tourists from New Delhi and Punjab June onwards. We are expecting the flow of tourists to continue throughout the year,” a hotelier, Waheed Ahmad Bazaz said.
Houseboats owners said the current heat wave countrywide has increased the flow of tourists to Kashmir.
Manzoor Ahmad Pakhtoon, president Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association said the occupancy in the houseboats was ‘satisfactory’. “Since the heat wave is prevailing within the rest of India, we are witnessing good bookings and occupancy. We expect the flow to continue for the rest of the months as well, especially during Amarnath yatra,” he said. (Extract from news feeds).
