Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Jun 19: Jinx has finally been broken after a long gap as foreign tourists have once again started to revive their age-old bond with their most favourite tourist destination—Kashmir. This year from January to June 19, over 15,000 foreign tourists have visited the Valley and the figure is expected to go up in a big way by the year end.
A top official in the Tourism department wishing not to be named, said “This year, from January to June 19, 15161 foreign tourists have visited the Valley and the figure is all set to go up by the year.” Pertinently, as per official figures available with the KNO, last year 4028 foreign tourists visited Kashmir from January to June.
The official said that the highly successful G-20 Tourism Working group meeting is likely to be a game changer in the tourism sector of J&K. “The beauty and magnificence coupled with the warmth and hospitality of J&K were portrayed on a global level in the G20 event. This is bound to attract more and more foreign tourists to J&K,” he said.
Officials in the Tourism department said that the G-20 working group meeting in Srinagar on May 22 to 25 is set to give positive results as more foreign tourists are expected to arrive in Kashmir in the months ahead i.e. July, August and September. “We are also looking forward to seeing a good number of foreign tourists in October, November and December months this year,” said an official.
He said there is no denying the fact that many countries are set to lift the negative travel advisories that bar their citizens from travelling to Kashmir. “Since representatives of the countries who have imposed a ban on their citizens from travelling to Kashmir were present in the G-20 meetings in Srinagar, there is every hope that all negative advisories will be removed shortly,” he said.
A houseboat owner in Dal Lake said that he has a group of foreign tourists in his house boat and two more groups are expected to arrive by June 25. “Majority of foreigners arriving in Kashmir are from South-East Asian countries. This is indeed a good sign,” he said.
A group of foreign tourists from Singapore staying in a houseboat in Dal lake told KNO that Kashmir is indeed a beautiful place on the earth and they are feeling delighted to see the natural beauty of the place. “We have visited many unexplored destinations and were mesmerized by the natural beauty and gushing waterfalls. There is a solace, peace and a natural therapy to minds,” the group members said wearing a gentle smile, adding that “more tourists from Singapore and Malaysia are expecting to visit Kashmir in the next few months.”
