Omar Qayoom
1. The Kashmir Valley is known for its natural beauty and cultural heritage. Gardens, hill stations, green fields, meadows, snow clad mountains, handicrafts and so on are the main factors that pull tourists to Kashmir and makes it a round the year destination, hence attracting tourists from all over the world. Hospitality of Kashmir makes every guest comfortable, due to the warm & welcoming nature of the people and variety of culinary delicacies. Apart from the modern hotels, resorts and other types of accommodation available, Houseboats are a very popular form of floating retreat at Dal Lake in Srinagar. Millions of visitors from all over the world flock here every year to enjoy the beauty of Kashmir, which is also known as Switzerland of Asia.
2. Tourism Potential in Kashmir. Kashmir is popularly known as “Paradise on Earth”. The region is bestowed with scenic beauty, forests, lakes, singing rivers, lush green fields, meadows, snow capped peaks, cool climate, and many socio-cultural facets. Natural tourism potentials of Kashmir valley include a wide range of tourist attractions such as, Mountains, Hill stations, Valleys, Water bodies, etc. These potentials mesmerize every tourist in the valley and play a significant role in its popularity.
On top of it the Kashmiri culture being unique and diverse, is one of the main tourist pull factors. The beauty of Kashmiri culture lies in its attire, cuisine, language, multi faiths, different celebrations, etc.
3. Types of Tourism in Kashmir. There is no doubt that Kashmir is a heaven on earth. Some of the forms of tourism in Kashmir are:-
(a) Religious Tourism. There are a number of Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Sikh sacred places in Kashmir. Along with being spiritual and meditation centres, the pilgrim destinations of Kashmir are also a treat to the eyes. Pilgrimage tourism is rapidly gaining popularity in Kashmir. Every year, lakhs of devotees from different corners of the country visit Kashmir for religious purposes at Amarnath holy cave, Martand at Mattan Anantnag, Kheer Bhawani Tul mullah, Hitorical khankah e moulla Shrine of Shah-e-Hamdan RA,and Jamia Masjid, Aishmuqam Ziarat Zain u Din Wali RA etc.
(b) Wildlife Tourism. Kashmir valley is surrounded by mountains on all sides. Here, the popular wildlife attractions are Dachigam National Park, with kashmiri Stags, Baltal Wildlife Sanctuary and Gulmarg Biosphere Reserve. Numerous varieties of rare birds can be seen in Kashmir Valley, amounting to nearly 187 species of breeding birds and
42 species of fishes are found in the Valley. The Black Necked Crane is a rare species of crane found in Kashmir Valley apart from Tibet and China.
(c) Eco-Tourism. Eco tourism is a more responsible form of tourism which entails travelling to the natural areas, while stressing on conservation of the environment and wellbeing of local people. Kashmir has mammoth potential for eco tourism which provides basic frame for ecologically sustainable tourism with livelihood opportunities for local communities. The State government has identified wetlands and protected as the eco-tourism sites for tourists. The major eco-tourism site in Kashmir valley are Yusmarg, Doodhpathri, Aharbal, Bungus, Lolab, Baramulla Eco Park, Gurezand and so on.
(d) Cultural Tourism. Cultural tourism can be explained as travel in order to understand the ways of lifestyle and become familiar with history of a specific location. Kashmir has a rich cultural identity and its culture is an amalgamation of several ethnic groups of different faiths. Hospitality is one of the core aspects of its culture. People of Kashmir have deep-rooted cultural values which can be seen in the form of their dances and music, festivals, their arts and crafts and their cuisine.
(f) Adventure Tourism. Kashmir is one of the finest adventure destinations in the world. In fact, it is paradise of adventure lovers with high mountain peaks, fast flowing water bodies and open air spots with potential for activities such as: mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing, and rafting, skiing, paragliding and so on.
4. Impact of Abrogation of Article 370 on Kashmir Tourism. On August 5, 2019, the Central government made the historic decision of abolishing Article 370 and 35A and bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories (UTs). The abrogation of Article 370 affected the tourism sector primarily due to called off the Amarnath Yatra in the middle way, and then imposing the curfew and curfew like restrictions by authorities .not only this every type of communication were not be there in Jammu and Kashmir for 7 months .This also creates huge gap between tourists and local tour operators.
Many stakeholders in the tourism industry have commented positively about the prospects of overall development in the newly constituted UTs. As per reports, the travel and tourism industry welcomed the Centre’s move to make atmosphere cool and silent which would be conducive for both tourists and tour operators .The pan India and global COVID-19 pandemic too has undoubtedly brought the whole world to a virtual deadlock, but the hospitality industry has been the most effected sector because of the lockdown.
5. Kashmir region has distinctive natural and cultural tourism attractions, which are responsible for drawing in a number of tourists across the globe. To maintain the tourist flow to Kashmir, government has undertaken several initiatives, such as, expansion of tourism infrastructure and identification of new tourist circuits, apart from formulating a new draft tourism policy. The state has also developed an eco-tourism policy for exclusive development, promotion and preservation of eco-tourism potentials of the Valley.