Pahalgam: The terrorist attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday dealt a huge blow to Valley’s tourism sector amid its burgeoning growth since 2018.
Shocking the nation, tourists came under the crosshairs of terrorists at one of the region’s significant tourist places in South Kashmir.
Now a question hangs in the air about tourism sector’s growth as the indictor of the ‘normalcy’ in the region, according to The Indian Express.
The vicious attack took place, according to officials and stakeholders, at the peak of tourist season in the region with sightseers crowding the meadows and Mughal gardens to welcome the spring.
Pahalgam sits on tourist’s itinerary as the place is also one of the two routes to the famed Amarnath cave.
That the place is home to ‘the Baisaran pine forest, a popular trekking route,’ underlines how damaging the attack is.
It is reported citing industry insiders that the attack could have ‘significant ramifications’ for the tourism sector.
Tourism was emerging ‘slowly’ from the damning shadow of decades-long terrorist attacks.
Rauf Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, reportedly said that following attack ‘we are already receiving queries on cancellations from businesses and consumer partners’.
The ripple effect of the attack will sweep the tourism sector in the Valley that employees thousands, it is reported citing stakeholders.
As part of promoting tourism, the Centre hosted in May 2023 the third G20 tourism working group meeting in Srinagar, albeit in heavy security. There were at least 60 foreign delegates to the meeting.
Encouraging hosting of events in Kashmir, a new policy was introduced alongside a film policy to promote shooting.
Earlier Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha termed growth in tourism as the ‘key indicator’ of peace in the region, adding that ‘secessionism and terrorism have no future in J&K’.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told the Assembly last month that over 23 million tourists visited J&K in 2024.
However, in May 2022, Abdullah said that ‘Tourism is not normalcy, it’s a barometer of economic activity. Normalcy is the absence of fear, the absence of terror, the inability of militants to strike at will, the presence of democratic rule and by any yardstick you choose to use, Kashmir is far from normal today’.