Majid Imtiyaz started his dream project of opening a café at Sopore, Baramulla, in 2017. He rented a feasible spot and took loans from the bank to bear the expenses. Hampered by the frequent lockdowns and limited resources, his dream project was completed in August 2019. To advertise the café, he organized a pre-opening event "Coffee & Qalaam" which had a good turnout. Unknown to the unfortunate time that lay ahead Imtiyaz decided to open his café “Mann te Salva” on August 8, 2019.
Just three days before the opening of the café, the government revoked the special status of Kashmir that resulted in curfew, slowdown, and internet blockade leaving the valley halted and stagnant. Imtiyaz was shattered and decided to go to Delhi. The owner of the café started working in a call center to earn some money.
In January he got a call from his family, reassuring that the condition in Kashmir has started stabilizing. He went back to his hometown and finally his dream project was live on February 8. Little did he know that there was another lockdown hovering over Kashmir. “Mann te Salva” was closed after a month of obeying the lockdown rules set by the government to limit the spread of the pandemic. Imtiyaz was again left in despair with hefty expenses.
“This is the story of almost all the restaurants, cafes, food joints & hotels especially in Kashmir” emphasized Imtiyaz.
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| Picture Credits: Coffee & Qalaam Fb page |
Tour Agents
Many Kashmiri tourist agents were hoping for a good turnout of tourists this spring season but the lockdown implemented to limit the spread of coronavirus left them with empty houseboats and hotels starring at them. House to Asia’s largest Tulip garden, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Garden (IGMG), Kashmir has never been so dreary in decades. The tulip blooms which last only for one month is a major tourist attraction for domestic and foreign tourists but with the lockdown, there is no spectator for them.
“I am jobless since August 2019,” said Ayoub Rather, owner of Premier tour and travels. According to him from 2015-2020 only 2018 was a good year for tourism in the valley. The travel agent’s only source of livelihood was tourism which was affected badly, leaving him and his family in a state of distress.
Rather was hoping for good business during the spring season. “I received many bookings from November,” said the travel agent, hoping he would be able to achieve his target for the current year and might cover the loss he faced in the last year.
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Hoteliers
Hoteliers, pony walas, dhabawalas, restaurants, shopkeepers, guiding personnel, labors are completely shattered as the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the Valley in March.
“We are totally paralyzed,” said Anwar Wangnoo, owner of Wangnoo Sheraton Group. He claimed that the houseboats which used to host around one thousand people have received no guests in 10 months. “There is no fun to have a houseboat without tourism,” said the owner.
The Wanganoo Sheraton group has a chain of houseboats and they deal with international clients. “Since 2014 we are dealing with overseas tourists from Malaysia and Thailand. This year we were going to approach Vietnam but luck is not with us,” said Wangnoo.
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| Picture Credits: Trip Advisor |
People working in the tourism sector were considered to be the richest in the valley, said Sameer Teli, “but those days are a dream now’. The hotelier is struggling to feed his family and take care of his kids. “I am not able to provide medicines to my family because of cash crunch,” complained Teli, “leaving them to die because of my helplessness.”
Adventure Sports Tourism
Known for its adventurous sports, Kashmir valley is a famous destination amongst people for trekking. The valley has many unexplored treks that are only known to the local people but with the continuous lockdown, adventurous sports business has been in limbo.
Saddam Hussain who runs a trekking company Mountain and Dreams in Sonmarg incurred a loss of approximately 4 lakhs when the valley was put under a political lockdown. The peak season for trekking starts in July and he had bookings of 22 groups consisting of 15 each people for the treks. “As soon as the trekking season started, Article 370 was removed,” said the trekker, “resulting in canceling of all the bookings.”
Adventure Sports Tourism
Known for its adventurous sports, Kashmir valley is a famous destination amongst people for trekking. The valley has many unexplored treks that are only known to the local people but with the continuous lockdown, adventurous sports business has been in limbo.
Saddam Hussain who runs a trekking company Mountain and Dreams in Sonmarg incurred a loss of approximately 4 lakhs when the valley was put under a political lockdown. The peak season for trekking starts in July and he had bookings of 22 groups consisting of 15 each people for the treks. “As soon as the trekking season started, Article 370 was removed,” said the trekker, “resulting in canceling of all the bookings.”
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| Picture Credits: Fb page |
Kashmir doesn’t have big malls or industries but it has a natural beauty that is praised worldwide, said Anayat Hussain, General Secretary at Jammu & Kashmir Society for Trekking and Environmental Preservation. “Trekking is a big chain,” emphasized Hussain, adding, “not only hotel and dhabbawalas are benefited from it but also small vegetable vendors, porters, rickshaw and many more people are attached to this business.” They are all interlinked with each other said the general secretary.
Taxi Service
A majority of tourists in the valley relied on taxi service for the journey. With continuous lockdown, taxi companies are burdened with loans.
Unable to pay his instalments on time, Wasim Ahmed Bhat, owner of Kashmir Tourism Cabs has to pay a double amount to the bank. Bhat has employed many local people through his taxi service but with the lockdown in the valley, his business has come to a standstill. “Locals don’t take Fortuner or Innova for traveling,” said Bhat, adding, “these cars are meant for tourists.” But with the lockdown, these cars are resting in the garage.
Initiatives by the government
To promote tourism in the valley post abrogation of article 370, J&K Tourism Department provided financial assistance to organize 12 promotional events in various cities across India claimed Mushtaq Reshi, General Secretary of Domestic Tour Operators.
Domestic Tour Operators are tourism associations that are linked with the J&K tourism department. These associations are headed by an executive body. If there is any issue with tourism in the valley, the members of the association can talk to the higher authorities.
Reshi who is also a Managing Director of Essence Holidays Pvt. Ltd. organized a promotional event in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. It was the best event out of the 12 events organized by the associations, claimed the general secretary. The promotional event was meant to create tie-ups with travel companies who in return will send people to Kashmir for tourism.
The event which took place on February 6 was aimed to bring more people to the valley but it turned out to be a “wastage of money” due to the onslaught of the contagion, complained Reshi. The association had spent Rs. 9.35 lakh for the event out of which Rs. 7 lakhs were to be paid by the government.
Slow Internet
Apart from continuous lockdowns, Kashmir is also struggling with a slow internet connection. After revoking the semi-autonomous state of Kashmir, the UT was under a communication clampdown.
Following the Supreme Court order on January 10, 2019, the J&K government announced it would restore 2G mobile data on post-paid mobile phones in all districts in Kashmir. But access was only allowed to a few selected websites as per the order, leaving internet curbs largely unchanged.
Rather, the travel agent from Srinagar spent four months in Chandigarh to generate leads due to the communication blackout in the valley spending a hefty amount. Hoping the money, he spent on traveling and hotel would be reimbursed during 2020, the travel agent was devastated when the pandemic hit the valley.
Similarly, Wagnoo had to ask his relatives living in other parts of the country to handle the bookings for Wangnoo Sheraton Group.
Advertising for a new business is very important but Saddam was not able to promote his trekking company due to a slow internet connection in the valley. Struggling to get customers since 2019, the trekker was exploring new treks for tourists. “I explored a new trek in my village,” said Saddam, “but I failed to upload the video on YouTube due to the 2G network.”
The whole world is turning into a global village but Kashmir is excluded from it, complained Anayat. “I think Kashmir is not a part of the digital India initiative promoted by the PM.” He believed that it sends a bad signal to customers when the internet is not working in the valley.
Slow internet connection has deteriorated the relationship between the hoteliers and the customers, complained Mushtaq Pahalgami, President at Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners association. “When people asked for pictures of the property, we send it in the morning,” said Pahalgami. But till evening the pictures didn’t get delivered. According to Pahalgami this creates a negative impact on the customer’s mind and they think, “if the internet is not working, everything is not normal in the valley”.
Lack of a local government
A majority of people in the tourism sector said that the valley lacks a strong local government who could raise issues of Kashmiris?
“Local representative understands the pain of people,” reflected Pahalgami because they know the ground reality. Controlling Kashmir from Delhi is not helping people of the valley. “When our political leaders are in jail how can we get our problems solved.”
The Sheikh ul-Alam International airport operates only Hajj flights as international flights. Anayat recalled that during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was announced to make Srinagar airport as an international airport with flight connectivity to various countries to boost tourism but nothing happened after that.
In 2018, Kashmir had received 316,434 tourists between August and December. In 2019, this number fell to 43,059 for the same period, a decline of 86% showed tourism department data accessed by IndiaSpend.
Present condition
On being asked about the present condition of the valley, a tourism lecturer at Sri Pratap College said anonymously that due to the pandemic lockdown, local tourism has also come to a halt. “There is zero percent activity in the valley and people are made to go on compulsory leave without pay,” emphasized the lecturer.
According to him, the government should exit the lockdown and announce a tourism booster package for the valley for maintenance of infrastructure, paying loans, and spending in new ventures.
Since a majority of the people in the valley are dependent on tourism, the lecturer believed that all stakeholders should look at the matter sincerely. To gain the confidence of tourists and bring back Kashmir to its glory it is important to revive tourism, insisted the lecturer, adding, “to revive tourism there should be a political will.”
Taxi Service
A majority of tourists in the valley relied on taxi service for the journey. With continuous lockdown, taxi companies are burdened with loans.
Unable to pay his instalments on time, Wasim Ahmed Bhat, owner of Kashmir Tourism Cabs has to pay a double amount to the bank. Bhat has employed many local people through his taxi service but with the lockdown in the valley, his business has come to a standstill. “Locals don’t take Fortuner or Innova for traveling,” said Bhat, adding, “these cars are meant for tourists.” But with the lockdown, these cars are resting in the garage.
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| Picture Credit: Kashmir Tourism Cabs Website |
To promote tourism in the valley post abrogation of article 370, J&K Tourism Department provided financial assistance to organize 12 promotional events in various cities across India claimed Mushtaq Reshi, General Secretary of Domestic Tour Operators.
Domestic Tour Operators are tourism associations that are linked with the J&K tourism department. These associations are headed by an executive body. If there is any issue with tourism in the valley, the members of the association can talk to the higher authorities.
Reshi who is also a Managing Director of Essence Holidays Pvt. Ltd. organized a promotional event in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. It was the best event out of the 12 events organized by the associations, claimed the general secretary. The promotional event was meant to create tie-ups with travel companies who in return will send people to Kashmir for tourism.
The event which took place on February 6 was aimed to bring more people to the valley but it turned out to be a “wastage of money” due to the onslaught of the contagion, complained Reshi. The association had spent Rs. 9.35 lakh for the event out of which Rs. 7 lakhs were to be paid by the government.
Slow Internet
Apart from continuous lockdowns, Kashmir is also struggling with a slow internet connection. After revoking the semi-autonomous state of Kashmir, the UT was under a communication clampdown.
Following the Supreme Court order on January 10, 2019, the J&K government announced it would restore 2G mobile data on post-paid mobile phones in all districts in Kashmir. But access was only allowed to a few selected websites as per the order, leaving internet curbs largely unchanged.
Rather, the travel agent from Srinagar spent four months in Chandigarh to generate leads due to the communication blackout in the valley spending a hefty amount. Hoping the money, he spent on traveling and hotel would be reimbursed during 2020, the travel agent was devastated when the pandemic hit the valley.
Similarly, Wagnoo had to ask his relatives living in other parts of the country to handle the bookings for Wangnoo Sheraton Group.
Advertising for a new business is very important but Saddam was not able to promote his trekking company due to a slow internet connection in the valley. Struggling to get customers since 2019, the trekker was exploring new treks for tourists. “I explored a new trek in my village,” said Saddam, “but I failed to upload the video on YouTube due to the 2G network.”
The whole world is turning into a global village but Kashmir is excluded from it, complained Anayat. “I think Kashmir is not a part of the digital India initiative promoted by the PM.” He believed that it sends a bad signal to customers when the internet is not working in the valley.
Slow internet connection has deteriorated the relationship between the hoteliers and the customers, complained Mushtaq Pahalgami, President at Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners association. “When people asked for pictures of the property, we send it in the morning,” said Pahalgami. But till evening the pictures didn’t get delivered. According to Pahalgami this creates a negative impact on the customer’s mind and they think, “if the internet is not working, everything is not normal in the valley”.
Lack of a local government
A majority of people in the tourism sector said that the valley lacks a strong local government who could raise issues of Kashmiris?
“Local representative understands the pain of people,” reflected Pahalgami because they know the ground reality. Controlling Kashmir from Delhi is not helping people of the valley. “When our political leaders are in jail how can we get our problems solved.”
The Sheikh ul-Alam International airport operates only Hajj flights as international flights. Anayat recalled that during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was announced to make Srinagar airport as an international airport with flight connectivity to various countries to boost tourism but nothing happened after that.
In 2018, Kashmir had received 316,434 tourists between August and December. In 2019, this number fell to 43,059 for the same period, a decline of 86% showed tourism department data accessed by IndiaSpend.
Present condition
On being asked about the present condition of the valley, a tourism lecturer at Sri Pratap College said anonymously that due to the pandemic lockdown, local tourism has also come to a halt. “There is zero percent activity in the valley and people are made to go on compulsory leave without pay,” emphasized the lecturer.
According to him, the government should exit the lockdown and announce a tourism booster package for the valley for maintenance of infrastructure, paying loans, and spending in new ventures.
Since a majority of the people in the valley are dependent on tourism, the lecturer believed that all stakeholders should look at the matter sincerely. To gain the confidence of tourists and bring back Kashmir to its glory it is important to revive tourism, insisted the lecturer, adding, “to revive tourism there should be a political will.”
This article on Kashmir Tourism has reflected an overall tourism scenario of the valley and the people dependant on its activities.
ReplyDeleteHowever the situation is much worse and perhaps may not be told in words. It is only the God's grace and the will power of the people that they are surviving in such Lockdowns enforced by the government and then Nature.
Keep on writing good stories on Kashmir.
Regards
Peerzada Faiyaz Ahmed
Tulip Hospitality Services
Former President Travel Agents Association of Kashmir TAAK
Convener JK and Ladakh for Responsible Tourism Society of India RTSOI
Founder Member Environmental Policy Group-EPG
Founder Member Nature University Recognised by Penn Dixie USA
Thank you so much.
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