Tourism without Alcohol | Can Kashmir attract tourists without selling liquor?

Kashmir’s tourism thrives on landscapes and sanctity, not bottles and bars

The debate over a liquor ban in Jammu & Kashmir has once again moved to the political centre. Bills seeking prohibition keep resurfacing in Assembly sessions, including the most recent one, pushing the issue beyond moral appeal into a serious policy question.

In a region where alcohol consumption carries social and religious discomfort, the demand signals a wider unease that has been built over time.

Opponents of prohibition frame their case in fiscal terms. Government data shows that liquor revenue remains a significant source of income: collections from 15 districts amounted to Rs 1,038.78 crore in 2023-2024 and rose to Rs 1,118.16 crore in 2024-2025 — a 7.6 per cent annual increase. More than Rs 2,150 crore has been generated through liquor auctions in just two financial years.

The government, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, warns that prohibition could lead to smuggling, illegal distillation, and spurious liquor. Several political leaders echo the concern that a ban may not eliminate consumption but merely push it outside regulation.

Yet these arguments sidestep the central question: Does Kashmir’s tourism economy depend on liquor?

J&K’s liquor revenue map tells its own story. Over 90 per cent of excise income comes from the Jammu division. The Kashmir valley — the main tourism hub — has minimal liquor infrastructure. Districts such as Pulwama, Shopian, Budgam, Bandipora, and Kulgam, have few or no liquor outlets, yet continue to attract large tourist inflows. Even Srinagar, which receives the bulk of tourists, generated only Rs 6,557.66 lakh in 2024-2025 from seven wine shops and four bars.

Tourism has surged post-pandemic, driven by domestic and international travellers, pilgrims, and families. The demand is for snowcapped mountains, meadows, forests, streams and a moderate climate — not for nightlife or alcohol.

Data from the J&K Economic Survey 2024-2025 reinforces this: between 2021 and 2024, Kashmir drew 1,02,893 foreign tourists compared to 39,521 in Jammu, despite fewer liquor outlets. Kupwara, with none, saw arrivals jump from 6,961 in 2018-2019 to nearly 3 lakh in 2022-2023, powered by border and offbeat tourism initiatives.

Religious tourism adds weight. Pilgrimage circuits such as the Amarnath Yatra and Vaishno Devi attract lakhs annually. Liquor outlets near such circuits jar with the ethos, creating a contradiction between faith and commerce.

Comparisons with other states weaken the tourism-liquor argument further. Gujarat, under prohibition, recorded over 18 crore tourists in a recent year, including ~23 lakh foreigners. Bihar, Nagaland, and Mizoram also restrict alcohol yet sustain tourism. Goa offers a cautionary tale: a 2017 study by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute found its beaches had the highest litter levels among 254 sites, with liquor bottles forming 33 per cent of the debris. In an ecologically fragile Kashmir, alcohol-linked waste poses similar risks. Bottles left behind in forests, meadows and along water bodies are not just a visual problem but a threat to landscapes that define the region’s appeal.

Expansion of liquor outlets since 2019 has triggered protests in Srinagar, Qazigund, and Uri, with residents raising concerns about public behaviour and social impact. Religious leaders, tourism stakeholders, and health experts back restrictions, linking them to youth welfare and rising substance abuse. Kashmir’s lone government-run de-addiction centre saw a 2,660 per cent rise in patients between 2016 and 2022. A 2019 AIIMS study estimated that nearly 5 per cent of J&K’s population — of around 600,000 people — were using drugs, with opioid use alone affecting 4.91 per cent.

There is also a need to place the revenue argument in perspective. Liquor sales may generate thousands of crores, but it is a narrow source of income. Tourism diversification, horticulture, and handicrafts offer far greater potential. Horticulture alone has an annual turnover of Rs 1,200 crore, supporting 23 lakh people and contributing about 9 per cent to the region’s GDP. Handicrafts, valued at about Rs 800 crore, further highlight traditional, employment-intensive strengths. Reliance on alcohol taxation reflects a limited fiscal vision.

Political leaders across parties, warn that prohibition could spur smuggling, and illegal trade. However, treating liquor as essential to tourism because of enforcement gaps is flawed logic. By that reasoning, every illegal activity would need to be legalised to avoid misuse. The real task is strengthening enforcement and accountability.

Liquor may be easy to tax and regulate, but that does not make it central to J&K’s tourism model. The choice before policymakers is not between tourism and prohibition—it is about defining the kind of tourism the region wants to promote.

Kashmir does not lack tourists. Its challenges lie elsewhere: rising pollution, traffic congestion, and climate change-driven snowless winters that threaten its image as a winter wonderland. The real question is not whether tourists expect alcohol, but whether they still find the Kashmir experience they came for — the landscapes, the sanctity, and the serenity that remain its unique selling point.

Irfan Amin Malik is a J&K-based journalist. X: @irfanaminmalik.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.