After a record-breaking year for tourism inflow in 2022, Kashmir saw 1.2 lakh visitors arrive in February, giving the industry’s stakeholders much-needed relief.The number of visitors visiting Kashmir in a single year reached a record 25 lakh last year, which is significantly more than the previous 40 years’ average.
Director of Tourism, Kashmir, Fazl-ul-Haseeb that more than 1.2 lakh people travelled to Kashmir in February.
“Since last year, there has been a good influx of tourists, and we are optimistic that this trend will continue in the months to come. We have planned a variety of events in March in an effort to attract tourists,” he said.
To increase the number of visitors to Kashmir, Haseeb said that they were developing a number of strategies and getting ready for the approaching tourist season.
“Given that we are in the era of big data, we are developing scientific ways for determining the number of tourists, and we base our data collection on those methods. We gather information from both registered and unlicensed hotels,” he said.Haseeb said that to assure accurate data collection on visitor counts, it was crucial to use scientific procedures.
A top official from the Tourism Department said that 2022 had been the best year for Kashmir in terms of tourism.
“It has greatly boosted Kashmir’s economy. Winter reservations were good. This year’s travel season is expected to be busy,” he said.
With the abolition of Article 370 in August 2019 and the two years of travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the J&K administration focused on reviving tourism, which is now starting to show results.He said that the wintertime activities like skiing and the Khelo India Winter Games helped increase the number of visitors while popular tourist destinations were open this winter.
In the past, when Sonamarg, Yousmarg, and Doodhpathri had first snowfall of the year, these tourist destinations used to shut down.
The well-known tourist attractions of Gulmarg and Pahalgam are gearing up for summer tourism because it is anticipated that they will continue to be busy with travellers.
The reservations for hotels in Gulmarg ski resort are on the rise.
