Kashmir attracts 22 lakh tourists this year; foreign visitors increase

Kashmir has witnessed rise of tourist inflow, officials claim. It delivers significant message that the Valley is slowly breaking free from clutches of militants which is why tourist number has rises significantly, several ministers said.

Srinagar:Kashmir received more than 22 lakh tourists this year amid claims by the Central Ministers that the Valley tourism increased due to PM Modi's dynamic policies. On the other hand, various government sources claimed tourist footfalls of more than one crore without indicating whether Amarnath Cave and other sites were also included in the list.

Official sources said that a significant increase has been witnessed in arrival of foreign travellers in Kashmir despite advisories by many countries. As per figures of tourism department, from January 2022 to December 21, over 22,59,569 tourists including 22,40,616 domestic and 18,953 foreign tourists visited Kashmir. These figures are contrary to those claimed by the Centre government.

The deputy commissioner's office in Anantnag claimed last June that 80 lakh tourists visited Kashmir since January. “Kashmir is witnessing a ‘golden period of tourism’ as 80 lakh tourists have visited the UT in the past few months alone, breaking all the records of past 20 years,” the Anantnag deputy commissioner’s office said in a tweet.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha in August that from January till July 3, 2022, the tourist footfall in UT of Jammu and Kashmir increased significantly and estimated to be around 1,06,24,000. Rai had not specified whether the number of tourists includes pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi temple and Amarnath Cave.

In October, Union Minister for Industries Piyush Goyal said that Kashmir was coming alive as it witnessed record footfall of 1.62 Crore tourists since January 2022 which is the highest in 75 years of Independence. "Modi Govt’s transformative initiatives & reforms to uplift J&K have given a major thrust to tourism in the state," Goyal had tweeted.

Home Minister Amit Shah during his Kashmir visit in October said a maximum of six lakh tourists used to visit the Kashmir Valley every year, whereas this year till now 22 lakh tourists have visited the region. He had said Kashmir changed from terrorist hotspot to tourism hotspot.