Flood aftermath Tourist footfall in the state faces steep decline

PS BALI

Jammu, Oct 21: Already suffering huge loss of infrastructure in the recent flash floods, the Tourism Industry of the state is now facing another challenge in services sector, with steep decline in the tourist footfall.

According to official sources, the Tourism Industry in Kashmir faces decline of around 60-70 percent, with majority of reservations remain cancelled, whereas in Jammu 40 percent tourist decrease is witnessed as compared to the last year.

Sources revealed that on the primary reports, lakhs of winter tourists have canceled their trips to Srinagar, whereas the Vaishno Devi pilgrims are also not extending their stay.

He said, "The tourists who haven't booked are holding-off and the ones who have reserved are either cancelling the trips or are trying to get out of it."

“The tourism sector is considered the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy and lot of industries including travel, hotels, and handicrafts are directly dependent on it,” he said.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Director Tourism-Jammu, Soujanya Sharma, said that the tourism department of the state has incurred a loss of over Rs 175 crore.

"The infrastructural loss to the Industry is about Rs 175 crore, but decrease in the tourist footfall is affecting the Industry badly," he said, adding that most of the reservations have been cancelled and maximum hotels across the state are lurking for tourists.

He said that although this is a festive season and number of pilgrims in Jammu region remains low, but this time it is much less than the expected number.

"At present we are receiving little pilgrims for Mata Vaishno Devi, but unlike earlier, these pilgrims do not extend their visit to Kashmir," said Director.

However, he said, “After evaluating the primary damage to the industry, Union Ministry of Tourism has assured Rs 100 crore for the restoration of the damaged infrastructure.”

“The recent flood in state of Jammu and Kashmir has badly hurt state’s tourism industry. Many tourism projects in Jammu region are partially or completely washed away, thus incurring loss of Rs 25 crore,” he said, adding that out of the total amount, Rs 12 crore is for the damage of infrastructure directly under Jammu tourism department, while as rest Rs 13 crore is assessed for the damaged to the various developmental authorities across Jammu region.

It is pertinent to mention here that tourism accounts for about one-fifth of Jammu and Kashmir’s Gross Domestic Product.

The people associated with the tourism industry in the state have suffered this much of loss after the 2008 and 2010 unrest.

With the militancy-related violence at its lowest ebb, the Kashmir Valley was enjoying a huge influx of domestic and foreign tourists, but following the floods of September 7 majority of the tourist reservations stand cancelled.