Delay in snow leads to steep decline in tourist flow in Kashmir’s Gulmarg
Due to dry spell, there has been sharp decline in the flow of tourists in world famous tourist destination Gulmarg which otherwise used to host thousands of tourists mostly foreigners in the month of January.
However, Tuesday’s snowfall has brought smile on the faces of tourism players in one of the preferred ski destinations of world.
Tourism officials said that usually there used to be three to four feet of snow in Gulmarg in the month of January. “But, this year there was no such snowfall,” they said. The officials believe the primary reason behind dry spell is flood which devastated Kashmir last year in the month of September.
But, GA Bhat, who is a professor of Environmental Science in Kashmir University, said that there is no connection between dry spell and flood. “This is usual. It had happened (no snow in January) as well,” he said.
Officials said the main attraction at Gulmarg is snow and local, domestic as well as International tourists come only to enjoy. Due to dry spell, they said, scores of tourists cancelled their hotel bookings.
But, with the snowfall on Tuesday, there are high hopes among tourism players that tourists would come back to their ‘favourite’ destination. “We wish that the snow continues. We are expecting that they, the tourists, would return if it snows heavily,” said an official of Tourism Department, adding: “Let’s hope for the best.”
“I would say there is 80 to 85 percent decline in tourist arrival and one of the main reasons is delay in snowfall,” Rauf Tramboo, who is the member of Kashmir Hoteliers and Restaurant Association, told GNS. In Gulmarg, he said, the tourists have cancelled bookings due to delay in snow, which is main attraction.
“We hope those who have done bookings after mid January would arrive. We hopeful that after snowfall, the skiers would return as well,” he said. Tramboo said due to last year’s flood, a ‘wrong message’ was conveyed outside Kashmir. “People outside Kashmir thought that the infrastructure due to floods has been dismantled and this also affected tourists’ arrival,” he observed and added that when a tourist won’t come to Srinagar, how he would go to Gulmarg or Pahalgam then.
The prestigious Gulmarg Gandola which is managed by Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation (JKCCC) has also been hit by delay in snow.
An official of JKCCC, who wished not to be named, said on Monday: “Gandola is also hit by delay in snow. Usually, we used to run 72 Gandola cabins but due to decline in tourists’ arrival and skiers, only 18 are operating and most of them are empty.”
He said thousands of foreigners used to come for skiing in January but this time the situation is completely different as only 10 to 20 foreigners are present in whole of the Gulmarg. “We don’t even find one hundred now,” he said.
At Afwarwat, which is 14,000 feet above sea level in Gulmarg, a tourist guide said that his livelihood has been hit by dry spell. “We used to witness thousands of tourists at this time. It was considered as peak season,” he said, while expressing disappointment.
The JKCCC official said not only Gandola, at least 50 snow bikes are defunct as there is no snow. “They are sitting idle. See, the delay in snow has affected everyone here. People from Tangmarg, Magam and even Narbal come here to earn their livelihood and they have been hit badly,” he said.
However, the Deputy Manager of JKCCC, Suhail Ahmad Wani, said the fresh snowfall in Gulmarg on Tuesday has picked up the sale of Gandola. “Today, we saw good rush of people. It was snowing heavily here and we invite tourists to come to Gulmarg and enjoy the scenic beauty as well as Gandola ride,” he said, adding, all the facilities are available for tourists.
With the decline in tourists, the shops, restaurants are deserted in the Gulmarg while drivers and pony wallas say they are facing tough time.
“When I come from Tangmarg in the morning, I then wait for an hour or more for passengers and most of the time what happens, I return without passengers as there is no snow in Gulmarg leading to steep decline in tourism,” a Tavera driver said.
With snowfall since Tuesday afternoon, all the tourism players in Gulmarg were praying for moderate to high snowfall in the world famous resort so that the losses they had faced due to dryness are overcome.
