The tourist 'hot spots' across picturesque Kashmir Valley and the foothills of Mata Vaishno Devi have been witnessing huge footfalls bringing back smiles on the faces of tour operators and all others thriving on the tourism industry to earn their livelihood. Each day the tourist footfall is recording an upward trend raising hopes of the tourism industry already expecting a jam packed summer season ahead.
More than 3 lakh tourists have arrived here in the first three months to enjoy the cool climes and witness winter sports events like skiing, winter sport championships, gandola etc.
More than 90,000 tourists have already visited Asia's largest Tulip garden in Srinagar in the first week after it was thrown open for visitors. Approximtaely1.5 million Tulips of 68 varieties are decked up across the sprawling garden overlooking the world famous Dal Lake.
On Monday, the Srinagar airport alone operated 90 incoming and outgoing flights which ferried more than 15,000 visitors,the largest so far in one single day.
'We handled 45 arriving flights with 7,824 passengers and 45 departing flights with 7,190 passengers on Mar 28th. A total of 90 flights with 15,014 passengers makes it the busiest day in our history. And this is only the beginning of Summer Schedule", the official twitter handle of Srinagar airport announced.
Ground reports suggested tourists started flocking the Kashmir valley from different parts of the country soon after the restrictions imposed during Covid-19 pandemic were gradually lifted.
To attract more tourists, various tourism development authorities also organised public events to showcase exotic locations and quick getaways.
To instill a sense of security among the visitors elaborate security arrangements have been made and UT administration is hosting a series of events at these locations to welcome the tourists.
New tourist destinations, unseen lakes,meadows, homestay in the high hills, and small treks have been promoted by various tourism development authorities to attract a rush of visitors.
On the other hand, the pilgrim traffic in the Katra township, base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi, is also witnessing an upward trend.
Other prominent tourist places in Doda, Kishtwar, Reasi and Udhampur districts of Jammu region are witnessing fresh arrivals from the neighbouring states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and New Delhi.
On an average 25,000 to 30,000 pilgrims have been offering special prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum on a daily basis.
The cave shrine is already gearing up to host a large rush of pilgrims during the nine day long Navratri festival beginning April 2.
In Kashmir valley, destinations like Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg are also attracting a large number of tourists. The local gardens and other local hot spots are also witnessing huge rush of local visitors even as mercury is heading northwards.
