Pahalgam Terror Attack: Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Devastated As 26 Tourists Killed; CM Omar Abdullah Pushes For Revival Strategy

Srinagar: The tourism industry of Jammu & Kashmir, which has suffered a body blow following the gunning down of 26 tourists on April 22 in Baisaran in Pahalgam tehsil of Anantnag district, is on ventilator. Hoteliers, restaurateurs, shikara operators, taxi drivers, and others have been brought to their knees by four terrorists from the Pakistan-backed group, The Resistance Front.

Said Mukhtar Bhat, a tourist taxi driver: "These four persons have damaged the tourism industry like never before. We have been virtually jobless since April 22."

Faisal, staffer at a prominent hotel, said "Our occupancy has never been so low as it is now. Our rooms are empty." "If the situation continues like this for a few more weeks, then the hotel hotel industry will have to shut shutters rendering thousands of people jobless."

Omar Abdullah, the dapper 55 yo chief minister, is deeply worried about the alarming situation. Sources close to him noted that the terror attack was deliberately executed at the start of the tourist season. "The main intention of the terrorists' mastermind was to disrupt the tourist season. For now that goal appears to have been achieved."

Tourism which constitutes 30 percent of the GDP of Jammu & Kashmir has taken a severe beating. The biggest challenge for the Omar Abdullah government is how to attract tourists from Maharashtra and Gujarat which send the maximum number of visitors to Kashmir.

According to a local news report this year's tourist season was "looking historic." It said "Kashmir had broken tourism records in 2024 with 2.36 crore visitors. It was more than seven times the number from just four years ago." Now everything has been reduced to dust.

The CM and his team have now reached out to tour operators in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and other cities from where the maximum number of tourists visit Kashmir. Abdullah recently had an extensive interaction with tour operators from these cities.

He is closely interacting with Abhijit Patil of Raja Rana Tours, Mumbai, who is a pioneer in Kashmir tourism, to work out a strategy to save the tourist industry. Among other things, the J & K tourism ministry in tandem with Patil is thinking of using Bollywood personalities to be brand ambassadors.

The help of the Modi government too has been sought in this regard. "The best reply to the terrorists is to bring back the tourists. And this is exactly what we are trying to do," Ghulam Wani, a local resident observed.

However, the biggest factor which is deterring domestic tourists from flocking to Kashmir is the fact that the four terrorists who shot dead 26 tourists in cold blood with automatic weapons are still to be arrested even more than a month after the gruesome incident.

Tour operators spoken to by FPJ said fear is holding back thousands of tourists from heading towards Kashmir. "As long as the terrorists concerned are not arrested tourists in other states will be justified in having doubts about their safety in Kashmir," an operator from Mumbai, who preferred to be anonymous, stated.

When the FPJ asked Abdullah about this he indicated helplessness since security was the responsibility of the Centre. His father and ex-CM Farooq Abdullah noted, "If a person has to die, he might just fall in his bathroom and be gone." So it is pointless to worry for one's life. But the problem is that most tourists would rather die in their bathrooms than be shot in the head with M4 carbines.