Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Nov 11: The world famous ski-resort of Gulmarg has been the first choice of domestic and foreign tourists this year as the destination has attracted almost 14 lakh tourists in the first ten months of the ensuing year. The figure includes 9,000 foreigners and almost four lakh local visitors.
Gulmarg is a town nestled in the Pir Panjal range of the Western Himalayas at an altitude of 8,690 feet above sea level. Literally translated as ‘Meadow of Flowers’ it is encased by glimmering snow peaked alps, verdant green pastures, colorful meadows, deep valleys and pine covered slopes.
Gulmarg, known as Gulmarg in Kashmiri, is a town, hill station, popular tourist destination, popular skiing destination and a notified area committee in the Baramulla district
The main attraction for the visitors is the Gulmarg Gondola – Asia’s largest and highest, and the world’s second-largest and second highest cable car project.
Officials in the Directorate of Tourism informed that there was a surge in tourists since January to October with a total of 1380273 visitors including locals visiting the place. Among them were 993456 domestic tourists, 377921 local visitors and 8896 foreign guests.
An official said that it was for the first time that 8896 foreign guests visited Gulmarg.
Tourists flocked to witness the snowfall, with adjacent places including Tangmarg, Gulmarg, Boothapathri, Kongdori Peak Affarwath Peak and Babareshi also experiencing fresh snowfall.
Sajad Ahmad, a local resident of Gulmarg, said that this tourism season remained fruitful and they are hopeful that the coming months will also attract a large number of tourists as many events, cultural programs are on cards.
“The flow of tourists is much better than what it was earlier. We are thankful to the tourism department for the promotion and with time, it’s getting better and better,” a local hotelier said.
Welcoming the tourists, people from the tourism sector said that it was a good thing that local business was flourishing after almost three years. “These days, tourists visiting Gulmarg are enjoying it a lot,” they said.
Hoteliers at Gulmarg are also upbeat. “This time all hotels are packed and the season is going on very well after several years,” said Lateef Ahmed, a hotelier.
