Tourist decline

Central government has admitted in the current session of parliament that there has been a huge tourist decline to Kashmir valley post August 5, 2019, when the government abrogated article 370 and started a massive clampdown here.

In a written reply Union Minister of State for Tourism informed the house that tourist footfall was very less after the abrogation of article 370.

In order to refresh the memory of readers, it is worth mentioning that the government on August 4, 2019, officially asked tourists and yatris who had come for Amarnath Yatra to leave Jammu and Kashmir within 24 hours.

Even after the abrogation on August 5, 2019, and during the clampdown police raided many hotels in Srinagar and asked the tourists to leave the place, the impact of this government directive was massive on the tourism industry and the impact is still visible even after the 18 months have passed since the abrogation of article 370.

The tourism players and stakeholders who directly or indirectly connected with the tourist trade have been demanding fresh efforts by the central government to reassure the tourists to come again.

The tourism minister has said that tourism is picking up in Jammu and Kashmir from the past few months but the government will have to do more to revive this industry.