New Delhi: In the heart of Anantnag district in Kashmir, meetings have been underway between hotel associations, pony operators, and taxi drivers. The central topic of discussion is how to rebuild trust with tourists.
Last week’s Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 tourists were killed, has jolted Kashmir’s tourism economy. However, the hotel associations say their primary concern is not the economic impact.
“Our worry is to rebuild the trust that took us years to gain. The attack has sullied our image,” said Mushtaq Pahalgami, president of the Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners Association.
To that effect, the Pahalgam association has waived 25 percent of the tariff rates for tourists and restaurants are offering a 20 percent discount. The association, which has also been organising daily candle marches, said, in a statement shared with the ThePrint, this waiver is a “tribute to those who have recently sacrificed their lives”.
The meeting on 30 April was attended by over 50 hotel and resort owners. The decision, the statement said, will be implemented from 1 May.
Sajad Gulzar, general secretary of the association, said that the discounts cannot compensate for the terrible loss of lives but can at least “communicate our deep anguish and solidarity with the martyrs”.
But the efforts don’t end there. From chaatwallahs on Dal Lake to hoteliers across Kashmir, and even various local stores, discounts are being offered to tourists as a gesture of solidarity. A video of a Kashmiri shikara fruit seller has gone viral on Instagram. In the video, he is offering free fruit chaat for tourists.
After the terror attack, in which the tourists were targeted for their religious identity, Kashmiris, for the first time in three decades, took to the streets to protest against the killings and a day of shutdown was also observed in the valley.
On 30 April, the Jammu and Kashmir government shut down around 50 tourist destinations and trekking trails in Kashmir, including famous tourist spots such as Gurez Valley, Doodhpathri, Verinag and Yusmarg, for not having “adequate” security.
Waheed ur Rehman Para, the PDP MLA from Pulwama, said the incident was “communal”. He called the gesture by the Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners Association is a “great one”, saying, “Tourism is not the first priority; the security of tourists is.”
“People of India are trying to process their grief. This was a communal incident. Tourists don’t want security tourism. There cannot be policing of tourism. You run away from Delhi and other states to reach the mountains,” Para told ThePrint.
“The objective of the attack was to malign Kashmiris, and people have understood that. Kashmiris are trying to be patient, and everyone will recover at their own pace.”
‘Money or tourism is not a priority’
In Pahalgam, where the river Lidder meanders through the pine trees and snow-capped mountains for 30 km before meeting Jhelum, the alarming drop in the footfall has got the tourism industry worried. General Secretary Gulzar told ThePrint that prior to 22 April, around 10,000 hotel rooms were booked across Pahalgam. That number has now drastically dropped to around 1,000.
“Most of the tourists we’re seeing now are from Gujarat, Kolkata, and South India. We want to tell them that we are with them.”
“Money or tourism is not the priority right now—rebuilding the lost trust is. What happened on 22 April was horrific. In response, these discounts are nothing,” Gulzar added.
Mushtaq Pahalgami, who is also the owner of the Himalaya Discover Resort in Pahalgam, has offered an additional 5 percent discount at his hotel.
“There are about 140 hotels in our association. All of them are offering discounts. It’s about humanity right now. We’re even ready to give our rooms for free,” Pahalgami added.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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