Tourism industry hopeless, stares at bleak future

M Aamir Khan
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, August 25

Many ‘shikara walas’ at the summer capital’s famed tourist spot DalLake have removed the rooftops of their boats as they are aware thattourists are not going to return to the Kashmir valley in the near future.

At the same time, several hotels have been shut for the seasonas stakeholders continue to wonder whether or not the tourism sectorwas going to revive once again. Many have even given up the hope of

tourism revival and are thinking of switching to some other business.“Though the tourism sector has been struggling for the past many years,at least there was a hope that better times will come. Now, there is

no hope at all. We have removed the rooftops of our shikaras and set them aside as we know that tourists are not going to return....at least not for the next few months,” said Rafiq Ahmed, a shikara wala as he was chatting with other idle boatmen on the banks of the Dal. Another shikara wala, M Shafiq, said he was mulling to start selling vegetables as he had to fend for his family. “We all know that the summer and autumn seasons are over and in the winter, we do not do much business anyway. As I am the sole

breadwinner, I have decided to start selling vegetables now. At least I can hope to earn something as not just tourism but all other businesses have been reduced to zero,” he said.

“We have seen worse situations before for the past three decades right from the time when militancy erupted but the government never asked tourists to leave. There are bleak chances of a tourism revival now,” he added. The hoteliers say they have no option other than keeping their units shut and doing business was impossible without communication facilities. “It is not easy to keep hotels running when there is no business. Therefore, I had kept the hotel locked after tourists were asked to leave. Yesterday, I had gone there to have a look and clean the premises. In the meantime, a foreigner, who was probably a journalist, came out of the blue and said he had a booking at my hotel. Now, even if a handful people have booked my hotel online, how would I know? It is impossible to do business when there is not access

to phone or the internet,” said Imtiyaz Wani, owner of City Star Guest House at the Hari Singh High Street area. Meanwhile, job cuts have become inevitable at the hotels. “We have been told that we will be given salary for only 15 days of this month. And from the next month, salaries will be given only if tourists come. We know this is next to impossible,” said an employee of a high-end hotel, wishing anonymity.