Kashmir snow.
Credit: PTI Photo
Srinagar: As November ends without a flake of snow, Kashmir’s tourism industry is anxiously looking to December — a month that can make or break winter earnings.
Stakeholders say that only an early and heavy snowfall in the first half of the month can revive tourist footfall, which has plummeted after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam and taken another hit following the recent blast in Delhi.
The anxiety is real across Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, where hotels, guides, ponywalas and transporters rely on the year-end rush of visitors. “Everything now depends on snowfall,” said a Gulmarg hotelier. “If it comes early, tourists will return. If it’s delayed, we may lose the entire winter season.”
Tourism numbers fell sharply after the April 22 terror attack in Baisaran valley of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, in which 25 tourists were killed. Although the Valley began to show signs of a slow recovery by mid October, the Delhi blast earlier this month triggered fresh cancellations.
“People had just started rebooking for November and December, but the blast created new fears,” said a Srinagar-based travel agent. “Cancellations spiked again, especially among families.”
The downturn comes after Kashmir’s tourism had overcome two of the harshest disruptions in recent memory. The months-long lockdown after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 devastated the sector, wiping out an entire season.
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, grounding flights and shutting hotels. Yet, by 2022, Kashmir saw an unexpected surge that broke all previous arrival records, offering a lifeline to thousands of people dependent on tourism.
That hard-won momentum is now at risk.
With hotel occupancy dipping and adventure-tour operators reporting negligible bookings for skiing and winter sports, the industry is united in hoping for one thing: snow — and soon.
“Snowfall is the biggest advertisement for Kashmir,” said a tourism department official. “Once images of Gulmarg under snow appear on social media, the entire narrative changes. Tourists forget fear and remember beauty.”
For many in the Valley’s tourism chain — from shikarawalas on Dal Lake to taxi drivers on the Srinagar–Gulmarg route — the stakes could not be higher. A timely snowfall in early December, they say, can still turn the season around.
But if the skies stay dry for long, the Valley’s winter economy may face another long, difficult stretch.