news details |
|
|
| Unrest shuts Kashmir hotels | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 20: The hotels in volatile Kashmir valley are without the grades at present. All in unison are desolated with gates closed and phones shot. Not even a single tourist has arrived in Kashmir valley since the onset of present unrest on July 8.
According to the details available with Kashmir's tourism department, prior to the killing of the militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8, the picturesque valley was all set to witness a boom of the tourist arrival. The numbers, back then, only suggested a big business for the tourism players with no less than 12 thousand tourists making beeline to serene valley every day. The government too remained on tenterhooks, launching campaigns to lure more tourists. The private airlines too jumped into the chorus and added more flights that would shutter tourists between New Delhi and Srinagar. With evening flights added to the list, the flights operational in Valley shore up to 37 every day.
According to the official figures, 1314432 domestic and foreign tourists visited the Valley in 2011 excluding the Amarnath yatris whose number was 634000. In 2012, the number of tourists and Amarnath Yatris was 1308765 and 621000 respectively.
The number of tourist arrivals dropped to 1171130 in 2013 due to the separatist violence which erupted after the hanging of the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. In the year 2014 number of tourists who visited Kashmir was 116718. Over 10 lakh tourists visited Kashmir in the year 2015.
In 2016,however, the tables turned around at the dusk of July 8- when in south Kashmir's remote hamlet, Burhan along with two of his associates was gunned down the security forces. The separatists including the Hurriyat hawk pitched for protests, asking people to reach Burhan's native village en-masse. No less than 1500 hundred people were injured on the very first day of the protest, triggering a new wave of unrest that has so far claimed lives of 65 people.
Meanwhile, Kashmir's tourism sector has remained worst hit due to the present cycle of violence. With zero percent occupancy in hotels and tourist resorts including Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg present a haunting picture; the people associated with the tourist trade are sitting idle.
Furthermore, several bollywood shootings of big and middle budget films have been cancelled and these banners have moved their shootings to Himachal Pradesh. Likewise the tourists intending to come to Kashmir have also opted for Himachal Pradesh and other neighboring destinations.
The hotels on the boulevard that otherwise remain full during this time of the year - the peak tourist season - are without guests.
The tourists who were here when the troubles began have left the Kashmir Valley, many without touring resorts like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other cites.
"Most tourists have left by now," moans Mehmood Shah, Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department.
"The hotels are vacant. Tourists have left. There are no incoming tourists as well. We made arrangements for those who were stranded here," Shah said. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
