Ever since Wednesday’s fidayeen attack on a CRPF camp in Srinagar, cancellation of tourist arrivals and travel bookings has led to a loss of Rs 7 crore for the tourism industry in Kashmir.
As per hospitality industry sources, Kashmir’s luxury hotel Lalit Grand Palace, which has 112 rooms, reported a loss of Rs 70 lakh on the day when the attack took place due to cancellation of advance bookings in the hotel for March and April.
“The cancellation in room bookings started on February 9 when the unrest started. However, on Wednesday, we cancelled almost 70 per cent of our room bookings for March and April,” an official of sales department of the hotel said.
Kashmir had witnessed booming tourist seasons in 2011 and 2012 with 5 lakh and 13 lakh tourists, respectively, arriving in the Valley as per figures of the Department of Tourism.
Director State Tourism Department, Kashmir, Talat Parvez said the tourist arrival was going on smoothly till February 9 when which tourists stopped coming to the Valley after shutdowns and curfews were imposed.
“The unrest, which prevailed in the Valley after Afzal Guru’s hanging and more recently by the fidayeen attack, has affected the tourism sector to a great extent. The number of cancellations in travel, boarding and lodging is generally recorded by private tourism players,” Talat maintained.
Almost 90 per cent accommodation and travel bookings in hotels, houseboats of the Valley for March and April have been cancelled.
Abdul Yasin Tuman, a hotelier and manager, operations, Mascot Travels Pvt Ltd, said almost all the advance bookings in major hotels of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Srinagar have been cancelled.
“We had almost 90 per cent bookings reserved in hotels and houseboats of the Valley prior to the fidayeen attack and all of these have been cancelled,” he added.
Rouf Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents' Association of Kashmir (TAAK), says the February-March session, which sets the mood for upcoming tourism season, is crucial and that the queries, advance bookings for summer months start in this period.
"The number of queries and bookings has dropped. For some hotels and travel agents, it is a total wipeout for summer months whereas for the others, they may be able to convince tourists to come here. We held a meeting of all stakeholders today and we will discuss to re-strategise our policies so that the tourism sector does not suffer this season," Tramboo added.
Even if the number of flights operating between various Indian cities and the Kashmir valley was increased to 30 everyday, travel agencies say that there has been cancellation of 30-35 per cent air travel bookings.
Former president of the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir, Abdul Khaliq Wangnoo told The Tribune that on an average 50-60 air travel bookings were being cancelled per day, leading to loss worth crores to the travel sector alone. He said even domestic airlines would face tremendous losses in the future as rush would decrease.
The tourism players also hint at lay-offs by the travel sector of the Valley, which could render many people jobless.
As per hospitality industry sources, Kashmir’s luxury hotel Lalit Grand Palace, which has 112 rooms, reported a loss of Rs 70 lakh on the day when the attack took place due to cancellation of advance bookings in the hotel for March and April.
“The cancellation in room bookings started on February 9 when the unrest started. However, on Wednesday, we cancelled almost 70 per cent of our room bookings for March and April,” an official of sales department of the hotel said.
Kashmir had witnessed booming tourist seasons in 2011 and 2012 with 5 lakh and 13 lakh tourists, respectively, arriving in the Valley as per figures of the Department of Tourism.
Director State Tourism Department, Kashmir, Talat Parvez said the tourist arrival was going on smoothly till February 9 when which tourists stopped coming to the Valley after shutdowns and curfews were imposed.
“The unrest, which prevailed in the Valley after Afzal Guru’s hanging and more recently by the fidayeen attack, has affected the tourism sector to a great extent. The number of cancellations in travel, boarding and lodging is generally recorded by private tourism players,” Talat maintained.
Almost 90 per cent accommodation and travel bookings in hotels, houseboats of the Valley for March and April have been cancelled.
Abdul Yasin Tuman, a hotelier and manager, operations, Mascot Travels Pvt Ltd, said almost all the advance bookings in major hotels of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Srinagar have been cancelled.
“We had almost 90 per cent bookings reserved in hotels and houseboats of the Valley prior to the fidayeen attack and all of these have been cancelled,” he added.
Rouf Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents' Association of Kashmir (TAAK), says the February-March session, which sets the mood for upcoming tourism season, is crucial and that the queries, advance bookings for summer months start in this period.
"The number of queries and bookings has dropped. For some hotels and travel agents, it is a total wipeout for summer months whereas for the others, they may be able to convince tourists to come here. We held a meeting of all stakeholders today and we will discuss to re-strategise our policies so that the tourism sector does not suffer this season," Tramboo added.
Even if the number of flights operating between various Indian cities and the Kashmir valley was increased to 30 everyday, travel agencies say that there has been cancellation of 30-35 per cent air travel bookings.
Former president of the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir, Abdul Khaliq Wangnoo told The Tribune that on an average 50-60 air travel bookings were being cancelled per day, leading to loss worth crores to the travel sector alone. He said even domestic airlines would face tremendous losses in the future as rush would decrease.
The tourism players also hint at lay-offs by the travel sector of the Valley, which could render many people jobless.
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