Tourism is one of the prime revenue earners for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. There are 426 hotels with 15,000 beds in the Kashmir Valley, 1,089 registered houseboats, 2,500 lakefront homes, and 5,276 pony owners. Each of these stakeholders has been badly hit because of militancy and many have had to survive on doleouts from the Central government in the past.

Not any longer.

“There is also a definite pickup in tourism; and investments are taking place in restaurants and transport. People are buying big cars like Hondas to cater to up market tourists,’’ says Mohammed Yousaf Khan, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.

Buoyed by the inflow, the state government is actively wooing travel agents across the country. In July this year, Mufti Sayeed, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir met tour and travel operators in Lucknow, the capital of India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh to hardsell his state. The efforts seem to be paying off, and Kashmir is now a part of the “Destination for all Seasons’’ campaign jointly launched by the Association of Domestic Tour Operators and the Kashmir government.

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