Despite a spate of civilian killings in October, tourist arrivals in Kashmir saw a record jump in November with 1.27 lakh arrivals recorded during the month.
According to official figures 5.13 lakh tourists, including 1,317 foreigners, visited Kashmir from January 1 to November 30. In 2020, when Kashmir was under Covid-19 lockdown only 41,267 tourist arrivals were recorded.
There has been a jump of over 1200 per cent in tourist arrivals in Kashmir this year compared to 2020. The figures of November 2021 are particularly good news for tourism players of the Valley, who have been battling lockdown after lockdown since August 2019.
Tourist arrivals in November this year surpassed the figures for the same month of last seven years. In November 2020, 6,327 arrivals were recorded while 12,086 tourists arrived in the same month in 2019. A total of 33,720 tourist arrivals were recorded in 2018, 1.12 lakh in 2017, 23,569 in 2016 and 64,778 in November.
The huge number of tourist arrivals in November this year, has rekindled the hope of bumper tourist season this winter. The events like snow carnivals, Christmas, New Year and skiing are a big hope for the tourism players this season.
The tourism department has already taken several measures to ensure that the fear of the Covid-19 contagion doesn’t scare away the visitors. According to government data, over 80% of the tourism service providers have been vaccinated and are safe to welcome travellers from far and wide.
Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Hoteliers Club, Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya said that they were optimistic that in the coming months the tourist arrivals will further pick up.
“Kashmir is the safest destination to visit and its beautiful locales never fail to impress visitors. Tourism players here have ensured vaccination of their staff and adherence of Covid appropriate behaviour which has instilled confidence among tourists to visit Kashmir,” Chaya added.
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