Kashmir tourism heats up as mercury dips

Hotel tariffs up by 30 per cent in the Valley

BILAL HUSSAIN

With the tourist influx at its high this season, the hotel tariffs have gone up by 30per cent in the Valley. An air fare to Kashmir too has mounted during the period.
As the mercury dips in the Valley, tourists arrive in droves here to take a respite from the hot summer beyond Jawahir tunnel. President, Kashmir Hotel & Restaurant Association (KHARA) Siraj Ahmad said, “This time pleasant weather has been main attraction to the tourists.”
Recent rain in the state has cooled down temperature enough to attract tourists in the state. Tourists prefer to travel Jammu and Kashmir to take some time out from the heat wave in India, Siraj said, “It is vacations time outside, by the end of June it would be over and we would see a slump after it ends. Now it will decline slowly and gradually.”
The high tourist arrival has raised the demand for hotels in Kashmir and this has resulted in high tariffs. According to Siraj it is simple demand-supply that determines the prices in the open market and the same holds true for the hotel industry. Earlier, discounts that the hoteliers offer during off season is simply taken back. “It would be around 30 per cent up compared to what the hotels offer through slump period,” he added.
The air fares, which have proportionally gone higher have not stopped tourists from coming to valley. “Most of the tourists choose air route over the road as it saves their time and trouble involved with it,’ said a travel operator.
There is over 25,000 bed capacity in Kashmir about 80 per cent occupancies are there in the hotels, said Siraj. Compared to last year it has been good summer season for hoteliers, he believes.
J&K's most popular tourists destinations like Pahalgam, Gulmarag, Yousmarag etc saw modest rain which brought the temperature down. Tourists are most likely to come from other North Indian states like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were temperature is relatively hot and it is easy to reach the Valley to enjoy a great weekend.
Kashmir tourism estimations are strongly backed by good hotel booking numbers for past few days. The valley is expecting to remain as a great summer destination for few more weeks depending on the temperature in the state.
However, not all is well to be cherished for. “We don’t have basic infrastructure in place here in the valley. Connectivity is the big issue confronting the tourism sector. Roads, electricity is still a problem,” Siraj laments.