: Tourists keep JK abuzz; hotels remain full, govt encourages home-stays, Sgr Airport busiest place #IndiaNEWS #National,INSIGHT Srinagar, July 24 (IANS) Lakhs of tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir

Tourists keep JK abuzz; hotels remain full, govt encourages home-stays, Sgr Airport busiest place #IndiaNEWS #National ,INSIGHT
Srinagar, July 24 (IANS) Lakhs of tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir during the past three years have infused new life into the tourism industry in the Himalayan region. Hotels from zero-occupancy are witnessing full occupancy and the government is encouraging home stays to accommodate the huge influx of tourists.
The tourism industry had taken a severe hit after a Pakistan sponsored insurgency broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. It shattered the tourism sector as the number of tourists visiting Kashmir declined drastically.
Kashmir until 1988, with over 700,000 arrivals was one of the most preferred destinations for the national and international tourists. In 1989, Pakistan sponsored ultras appeared on the streets of Kashmir with guns and grenades which led to tourists saying goodbye to the valley.
In 1990 and 1991, 4,211 and 3,780 violent incidents were reported thereby bringing tourist arrivals to a meager 6,287 tourists, a 98 per cent decrease from tourist arrivals since 1989.
In early 1996, Assembly elections were conducted after eight years of Governors rule. With a civilian government in place over 100,000 visitors arrived in Kashmir in 1998. Four years later, India and Pakistan were at the brink of war following the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament. Assembly elections held in the same year in Jammu and Kashmir in September were also marred by violence.
Consequently, tourist inflow declined sharply in 2002, falling to 27,356. With the start of the India-Pakistan peace process in 2003 till 2012 tourist figures climbed steadily to over 1. 3 million. In 2015, the numbers fell below 1 million, but this time because floods had devastated Kashmir in September 2014, affecting its tourism infrastructure badly.
In 2016, the tourist arrivals had started picking up but the unrest which broke out in Kashmir after the killing of a Hizbul-Mujahideen militant, Burhan Wani, sparked a prolonged chain of street protests that were orchestrated at the behest of Pakistan.
The aftershocks of the violence that Kashmir witnessed in 2016, were felt in 2017, 2018 and 2019 as no one wanted to visit the valley. The tourism sector in Kashmir during these years witnessed its worst crisis with many hotels closing down, staff being laid off and players in the industry looking for alternative businesses or even job opportunities.
Tourism, considered as the backbone Jammu and Kashmirs economy, was pushed to the brink. Even with hotels offering discounts as high as 70 per cent, occupancy rates were less than 5 per cent at a time. In houseboats on Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake and river Jhelum the occupancy was as low as 1-2 per cent.
Turning Point
On August 5, 2019, the Centre announced its decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmirs special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories.

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