The change in the scenario has come after a lot of efforts that have been made at the back end, not only by the administration, but other tourism players as well, plus, this, year, the temperature in the rest of the country has been breaking all the previous records, by soaring higher on the Celsius scale—acting as a major attraction for the visitors. These days, while almost everywhere, the temperature is in the 40s, Kashmir has had the distinction of being a far cooler place with the continuous rain for the last few days, pushing the mercury further down even in June.
On the other side of it: There is no denying the fact that tourism is witnessing bloom in Kashmir, touching new heights, but making it a talking point everywhere, every day, might not augur well. If the gardens are flooded with tourists, why not just keep collecting the numbers? If the hotels remain occupied, why not just keep a track of that? If the online tickets of Gandola remain sold out for weeks, why not just keep an eye on that as well as on the number of tickets sold? It is better to keep a track of everything and not to go after the abnormal publicity almost every day, which the administration has become habitual of.
There is a need for keeping a track of all the sub-sectors of tourism and preparing a report, carrying all the necessary details; comparing the season’s tourist footfall, bookings in the hotels, and other parameters with what used to be the state of affairs earlier. The report could also point out the revenue generation and the increase in the income of the individuals associated with the tourism sector; compare the same with that of earlier years. By doing that the authorities would make a better case for them and would be rid of day-to-day, needless publicity.
What also needs to be understood and duly noted is that the unnecessary publicity always turns out to be disastrous and there is a likelihood that the same would invite eerie of anti-peace elements in Kashmir, who would not like to see blooming tourism. Let the administration keep it low-key till the end of the year and party on the year-end
