Tourists begin to drip in months after April’s murders in Pahalgam

Two months after a deadly attack in the Tabernacles of Cashmiro administered by India, she scared tourists and brought India and Pakistan on the edge of the war, the picturesque valley located in the Himalayas mountains is beginning to see the first signs of a tourist revival.

Shabana Awwal is making videos of her children while they turn to get a water bike to take a walk in Lake Dal, the most emblematic tourist place in the city of Srinagar.

Mrs. Awwal has traveled from the western state of Rajasthan with her husband and children in a group of 15, all members of her extended family.

“I visited Kashmira many times and I have seen all the main attractions such as Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam and I wanted to show all these places to my relatives,” he tells the BBC.

The Awwals had planned their 10 -day trip in March. “Summer in Rajasthan is unbearably hot, so we had planned to escape to Kashmir during children’s school holidays,” she says.

But since he planned the trip, the circumstances here have changed dramatically. On April 22, the militants attacked tourists who visited a beauty place near the city of Pahalgam, killing 26 men.

Tourism is the pillar of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, a territory administered by the federal government, and this unprecedented orientation of tourists sent shock waves through India. The authorities closed 48 tourist destinations in the valley and two thirds of them still remain closed.

Prime Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been pressing hard to reopen these places to attract visitors to the region, says that “the impact of the attack was immediately and very widely meaning.”

“There was a massive exodus of those tourists who were already here, and a massive cancellation of those who proposed to come. Then, India and Pakistan, for all purposes, were almost at war for a couple of days in May,” Abdullah told the BBC.

“Then, the lasting impact has felt so much on the deterioration of relations between the two neighboring countries as our tourism season for the year, what word use for her? I suppose you can call it a disaster.”

Kashmira, claimed by India and Pakistan, has been a point of inflammation for decades. The southern Asia neighbors with nuclear weapons have fought two wars and a limited conflict about Kashmir. For more than a quarter of a century, the region has seen an armed insurgency against the Indian government, but even at its peak, tourists were rarely attacked.

Mrs. Awwal said her family decided to continue her vacation because “we were not very afraid” and “we thought we will deal with what came to us.”

“We are happy to move forward with our plans. The situation here is normal,” he says and blames the “media hype” for the impression that it is not safe to travel to Kashmir.

Awwals are not alone in their optimism. Decepti and Anuj Gandhi of Jammu, who made their plans last week, say “there is no better summer vacation destination than Kashmir.”

“Children love to walk water and then we will go on a boat on the lake. We come here every year, so why break the tradition now?” She says.

Earlier this week, the Ani news agency reported that a group of Polish tourists had arrived in the city.

Arrivals simply weeks after Pahalgam attack are a cause of optimism for hoteliers, taxi drivers, tour guides, merchants and owners of Shikaras, narrow wooden boats and the Venetian gondola that transport tourists in Lake Dal.

In April, the president of the Association of Owners of Shikara, Haji Wali Mohammad Bhat, says that Dal Lake Boulevard was full of thousands of tourists, there were daily jams and many complained that they found it difficult to obtain accommodation.

“The attack against tourists was unfortunate and tragic,” he says.

“It has affected us all our livelihoods. Tourists are our life, tourism is our life line. God knows why sin we are paying,” he adds, desperately.

Ravi Gosain, president of the Indian Association of Operators Tour, who recently directed a “three -day research trip” of tourist operators, since “they are those who send travelers to Kashmir,” says “in recent years, tourism was flourishing in Kashmir, many new hotels had been built, new vehicles were bought and new stores were opened.”

Last year, the Government said that 23.6 million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir, with 3.49 million visiting the Valley.

This year, says Gosain, the high season has been lost in the valley, but tourism can still increase.

“The locals are very cozy, hoteliers, tour guides and merchants are very friendly and people return. You can see, all flights are totally, tourism is quickly recovering.

“I think the national feeling is that if the purpose of the attack was to derail tourism, then it will not succeed. But I hope that any adversary incident does not happen again,” he adds.

According to the reports, part of the credit for the Renaissance of Tourism in Kashmiro also goes to a new train link that for the first time has connected to Srinagar with the rest of India.

The train twice a day of Srinagar to Katra station, in the Jammu region, which was recently news to go through the “higher arch bridge in the world”, it has been functioning and has been exhausted for the next two months.

Katra, which is the starting point for those who visit the popular Hindu sanctuary of Vaishno Devi, attracted 9.48 million pilgrims last year.

And many of those who arrive there since June 7, when the new train with air conditioning was commissioned, have been in charge of going to Kashmir.

Among the pilgrims who take advantage of the easy connectivity is Ghanshyam Bharadwaj and his wife Mamata Sharma and their children. For the Delhi -based couple who enjoys hot sugary tea near Lake Dal, arriving in Srinagar was “a decision of the moment.”

“It took us only three hours from Katra. We will spend the night here and take the train back to Katra tomorrow and we will travel to Delhi,” Bharadwaj said.

“I ask if I was worried about traveling to the Valley as soon after Pahalgam’s attack?

“There is nothing to fear. This is my country,” he says.

Prime Minister Abdullah says that the fact that pilgrims choose to come to the valley is a good start.

“Now those who come for a few hours, I would like to see them come for a few days. Those who come for a few days, would like to see them have the confidence to stay for a week.

“But at least it is a beginning, and that is what helps.”

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