Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday acknowledged that this year has been challenging for the region’s tourism sector due to the Phalagam attack.
Speaking to reporters after launching the SKAL International Club, Kashmir Chapter, in Srinagar, he emphasized that initiatives like this could strengthen tourism linkages and open doors for collaboration, sustainable tourism, and fresh opportunities for J&K’s travel industry.
“Wherever business-to-business relations are formed, we hope our tourism stakeholders will benefit. The biggest thing in tourism is promotion. The more you promote and market, the more people will come,” he said.
Chief Minister said that the year has been “not easy” for Jammu and Kashmir’s tourism sector, citing setbacks from incidents in Pahalgam terror attack, Delhi blast and Nowgam explosion that “heavily impacted” visitor inflow.
” Despite such incidents, if institutions and groups like SKAL come here and build formal relationships with our tourism industry, we should see it as a positive step,” he said.
On winter tourism, he highlighted snowfall as a critical factor for attracting visitors, noting that November had been “completely dry.” “We hope Allah is kind and we receive decent snow in December. If snow starts, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonmarg, and Srinagar will also benefit,” he said, adding that the government has already completed its winter promotion preparations.
Though tourist arrivals continue, Abdullah admitted that numbers remain below expectations. He noted, however, that events such as the opening of the Chrysanthemum Garden have helped give a boost to tourism.
“If snow falls, more tourists will come,” he said.
