Cheer as Kashmir sees over 2.5 lakh tourists in two months

Tourism trends are healthy and bookings are continuing, says official

This December, the buzz on the famous Boulevard Road around the Dal lake in Srinagar saw an unprecedented scale, even after the sundown with the freezing temperatures engulfing the place, while most high-end hotels in Gulmarg and Pahalgam put up the ‘sold out’ tags online.

The reason behind the busy streets here is that Kashmir, for the first time in over a decade, hosted over 2.5 lakh tourists in only two months of November and December, running most high-end hotels in tourist hotspots of Gulmarg and Pahalgam full.

“Tourist footfall has been between 3,500 and 5,500 per day in the past two months. We recorded 1.27 lakh tourists in November, highest in the past one decade. The combined tourist figures of November-December are good omen for Kashmir’s tourism. Tourism trends are healthy and bookings too are continuing,” a senior tourism official said.