Snowfall reignites hope of tourism revival in Kashmir

The season’s first major snowfall has prompted excitement of tourists to visit Kashmir’s tourist places and reignited the hope of tourism revival in the Valley, after major setbacks owing to the Pahalgam terrorist attack and the Delhi blast.

There was widespread light snowfall in higher reaches of Kashmir including the prominent tourist places like the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, the picturesque Sonamarg in central Kashmir and Pahalgam in north Kashmir.

Sajad Kralyari, secretary general of travel agents association of Kashmir (TAAK), said that the snowfall has increased the excitement among the prospective visitors.

“Tourism is picking up fast this month. We already had some bookings for the upcoming New Year and Christmas eve. But the snowfall has triggered more queries as the travellers are also excited. Snowfall is proving a good omen,” he said.

He said that there have been some small groups of tourists who have expressed their visit to revisit experiencing snowfall.

“Many tourists who had put their plans on hold owing to dry weather conditions have now put their packages in motion,” he said.

A group of tourists visiting Gulmarg from Delhi were mesmerised by the snowfall in the Himalayan region.

“This is my first experience of snowfall. I had never witnessed snowfall in my life till today,” said Ayush from Delhi.

Tourism players and officials say that the snowfall in Kashmir, which coincided with the start of harshest winter period-Chillai Kalan- has rekindled hope of tourism revival after around one and a half month of dry weather.

“It is truly heartwarming to witness Chillai Kalan returning to its natural calendar bringing with it the priceless gift of snowfall. Our majestic mountains are once again draped in a shimmering silver carpet, welcoming guests from across the country with nature’s unmatched beauty,” said member of legislative assembly,Gulmarg, Farooq Shah.

“What more could we ask for than such a divine blessing, snowfall that rejuvenates our land, strengthens winter tourism, and rekindles hope in the hearts of our people,”said Shah, who has also served as director tourism before joining politics.

Most of the tourists visiting the valley in winter mostly rush to Gulmarg.

“Gulmarg – the Winter Tourism Capital of Jammu & Kashmir, is all set to welcome visitors with open arms. From adventure seekers and skiing enthusiasts to snow bike rides and sledge lovers, Gulmarg promises unforgettable winter experiences for all,” Shah said.

Kashmir tourism’s recovery had been slow this year after the Pahalgam attack in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed by terrorists in Baisaran valley of Pahalgam on April 22.

Many, including chief minister Omar Abdullah, had pinned their hopes on weather to attract more tourists following the snow activity in the Valley in early October. But that was before the suicide blast in a car that was driven by a Kashmir doctor in Delhi on November 10 and killed 12 people.

Discreet security arrangements have been put in place with road-opening parties, mandatory CCTVs at hotels and markets, furnishing lists of visitors with police stations, real-time monitoring of their movement amid close coordination between security agencies in the valley. These are some of the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place to restore tourist confidence as winter tourism gets underway.

Sajad Kralyari said that many hotels in Gulmarg and Srinagar have been sold out on certain dates like New Year and Christmas.

“Many hotels are sold out on certain dates while the average hotel occupancy has increased to 50 percent from mere 10-20 percent in previous months following a drop in arrivals after the Pahalgam attack,” he said.

He said that the spot bookings have also increased.

Soon after the Pahalgam attack, there was an immediate flight of tourists out of the Valley and the J&K government closed more than 50 tourist destinations in the UT.

However, after a security review, around 28 places have been reopened in a phased manner.

Kashmir witnessed back to back record tourist arrivals for the past three years. Last year, as per official numbers of the tourism department, 34.98 lakh tourists visited the himalayan valley, up from 31.55 lakh in 2023 and 26.73 lakh in 2022. This year , the numbers already had reached 6 lakh till the Pahalgam incident and the numbers after that have been in the few thousands.

Weather to improve from today: MeT

Light snowfall was recorded in some mountainous areas of Kashmir on Monday even though the meteorological centre in Srinagar predicted improvement in weather from Tuesday.

For the second day, there was light snowfall and rains in some upper reaches of the valley while weather improved in the rest of the region including summer capital Srinagar.

Officials said that light snowfall was witnessed in the ski resort of Gulmarg while the plains witnessed scant precipitation.

The MeT said that the weather system was leaving the Valley and may bring some precipitation during the night while the weather improves from Tuesday.

“The weather will be partly to generally cloudy from December 23 to 29,” the MeT centre said in an update.

The Jammu division will witness reduced visibility owing to fog.

The centre predicted another spell of snowfall from December 31.

“ 30th Dec to 1st Jan will witness generally cloudy weather with possibility of light rain in plains and light snow over higher reaches at scattered places,” it said.

Independent weather spotter, Faizan Arif, who runs a weather updating handle on X, said that the forecast has been largely as per the expectation with no snowfall in plains due to relatively higher temperatures.