Waiting for tourists

Kashmir Valley has been waiting for tourists from the past several years and they are still waiting even as the spring season has started. Despite the recent efforts by Governor’s administration to get tourists back to Kashmir Valley, there is there is no visible tourist footfall in Kashmir Valley. Much to the surprise, even tourism has taken a dip in Jammu and also Ladakh is not getting the queries from travelers in this month of March.

As the Jammu is facing tourism crunch, the people associated with the trade told media that the State Tourism Department has even shutdown its social media handles regarding its promotion to sell Jammu region as a peaceful destination. Recently State Tourism Department has decided to create a single social media account for all the three regions.  According to the people associated with tourist trade in Jammu and Ladakh regions, it had a bad impact on their bookings.

Tulip Garden has been thrown open on Sunday, but there is only local visitors coming to see the tulips and the tourist players of Kashmir are still waiting for the bookings. Inspite of the fact that the State administration has been spending crores of rupees on the tourism promotion programme, the Valley has not seen any tourist rush in the past few years. Many people connected with tourist trade have been questioning the wisdom of the government for spending so much of money on tourism promotion with no results. They are saying that if the money would have been given to the sufferers like Shikarawallas and Poniwalls, there life would have been made better by so much of money.

With Tulip Garden open and spring coming in full bloom in Kashmir Valley, there are no bookings or tourists on the streets of Srinagar. It has been a long wait for thousands of families in Kashmir Valley connected with tourist trade to look for tourists.