Indeed, the Good Times were here, with the average Kashmiri enjoying the bounties of tourism. Then came the dastardly attack on the tourists in Pahalgam, impacting common lives, jolting the nation, resulting in India retaliating like never before. It would take a few months as tourists begin to explore the Valley – we catch up with Farooq Shah, MLA from Gulmarg, and a veteran in tourism, having served the state government earlier as its secretary tourism.
Navin: There has been a major setback to all the tremendous efforts that had been put together, by all the stakeholders – the local people, the tourism industry in the state, government at the centre and in the state – all of them. Then suddenly there has been this drastic and tragic setback. Over a month has passed now. How bad is the decline, and how is the revival taking shape?
Farooq Shah: Yes, it’s a big setback. Kashmiri people are famous for their warmth and hospitality. And then to experience such a setback; no one understood why it happened or how it happened. And I have said this before; every Kashmiri was sad. Everybody, deeply felt the pain. Humanity got impacted.
It was a big setback to the tourism industry and to ‘Kashmiriat’ also.
Navin: For people like us sitting in Delhi, the overall impression is that this was a multi-pronged attack with lots of multiple aims. One was to bring a setback to the improvement that had happened in Kashmir. Overall level of improvement that had happened; they wanted to disturb that peace. Number two, I think we were going through a peaceful stage. Here the attempt was to see if they could divide us on religious grounds. All very unfortunate. After this happened, we came to a zero situation?
Farooq Shah: As we all know well, tourism is always a peaceful activity. You can’t think tourism in the absence of peace. But once tourists are targeted and peace is disrupted, there is an inevitable impact upon the tourism industry. We were receiving daily thousands of tourists, at least about more than 70 flights daily from Delhi and other parts of the country. And then there were tourists coming in from Mata Vaishno Devi. They used to come to Kashmir as well. During the last few years, people had seen the fruits of tourism, and many had invested in tourism. We saw more hotels, restaurants, and showrooms come up. The transport sector was upgraded; new vehicles were purchased. Some good brand properties had come up. This was across all tourist sites like Srinagar, Pahalgam, Sonmarg, Gulmarg and other destinations. But this incident has been a disaster for the tourism industry.
It is not only the hotelier or transporter who gets a benefit out of this industry. It’s an eco-system, starting from the taxi driver to the restaurant owner, a hotelier to a handicrafts dealer, a grocery shop to a dry cleaner and vegetable vendors; everybody gets benefitted from tourism. And I will mention my constituency, which is Gulmarg. Lakhs of people and families are dependent on this industry and work as waiters, chefs and other service providers.
The number of tourist arrivals after this incident has been affected badly. Currently numbers are low. I can give the example of the gondola. There is usually a queue for almost two months or three months. Now, although Gulmarg is receiving 1,200-1,300 tourists daily, earlier it used to be that you were in the queue for almost two to three months. Now the demand is not there. So, is this the case with hotels and taxis.
Where revival is concerned, with such incidents, tourism is the first target, and unfortunately tourism is the last recovery. It is the first which gets affected, and that too, immediately. But recovery can take much longer. I remember, in 2006 there were some incidents in which tourists got killed. It took us about three years to revive. And then people, now in more recent years, were feeling that things were in order. They have been benefitting from peace and tourism for the last many years. But suddenly this attack took place and shocked everybody. Every Kashmiri is reeling from what has happened. We have always given the best in hospitality to the tourists, always looked at repeat visitors, not just one-off.
Before the government started organising the Amarnath Yatra and before the amenities for pilgrims had come up, it was largely a local affair. It was the locals who were providing hospitality in their own homes. It was a symbol of secularism. Kashmir is a symbol of secularism. Then, unfortunately, such things happen. Such incidents give a bad name to any place. This is most unfortunate.
Navin: On the ground, I hope some numbers have started coming back?
Farooq Shah: Yes, yes. It has started in Gulmarg and other places also – Srinagar, Pahalgam, and Sonmarg, and we are hopeful that we will be having a successful Amarnath Yatra. Yesterday, I was at Kheer Bhawani. At Kheer Bhawani, there is an annual festival, and many pilgrims and visitors come from outside the valley and across the country, these are mostly our Kashmiri Pandit brothers who come. There were about 5,000–6,000 pilgrims.
Navin: There newspaper reports recently where the CM was quoted as having said that we can only promote tourism as a state, but law and order is a central subject. And he was asking or requesting the centre to look after that law-and-order situation so that reassurance can be given to tourists and tourists can start coming back.
Farooq Shah: Omar Saab is also, besides the Chief Minister, the Minister for Tourism. And recently he had meetings at Pahalgam with all the ministers, his cabinet colleagues, and the administrative secretaries. It was an initiative as a confidence-building measure. It has really made some change because tourists have started coming, and once the Chief Minister is at a destination, his presence is an assurance to people to come. Regarding law and order, this is under LG sahb. And even the law enforcing agencies are with the LG, who represents the centre. We are all on the same page, our efforts are concerted in the same direction – to get the tourists back, and set the state economy going again.
Navin: So, this process of rebuilding confidence, have you planned a few roadshows, that is the norm for tourism industry when it wants to rebuild confidence in any destination?
Farooq Shah: Yes, CM sir, recently in a meeting at Gulmarg, he directed the tourism department to participate in all the travel marts that are happening in the country. He also added that we should conduct fam tours and organise festivals, including promotion of activities like conferences, golf and just leisure.
Navin: Before this setback happened, there were some voices which were saying that the prices of hotels had gone up too much. Any comment on that?
Farooq Shah: We have again and again requested our stakeholders, our service providers, kindly do not make the destination costly. We want the tourist to return again and again, and he should not feel that destination Kashmir is a costly place to visit. And our industry, they understood, and I am hopeful that they will be tourist friendly. The tariffs will be tourist friendly, and nobody should feel that the destination is costly.
Navin: Any special effort that you can think of, that can expedite the return of tourism?
Farooq Shah: One thing everybody feels from the industry, and I also, with my 14 years’ experience in tourism, feel that an appeal from the Honourable Prime Minister himself, can change the scenario. If he tells people to go to Kashmir to conduct MICE and adventure activities, that will be a big step, and I am hopeful that with that, the tourism industry will be back, even sooner than we can expect.
Navin: There were some tourist spots which had been closed to tourists, some 56 or so spots, that are yet to open?
Farooq Shah: These are security measures, and with the passage of time, these will be opened again. Some of them have opened, and some are in the pipeline because everybody wants that once a tourist goes to a destination, he should feel safe. There should be no problem for him. The process is ongoing, and so is the return of tourism to the valley.
