TOURISM IN KASHMIR: CHALLENGES OF AND OPPORTUNITIES - Bilal Ahmad Khan

1212

AMERICAN RESEARCH THOUGHTS

ISSN: 2392 – 876X

Available online at: www.researchthoughts.us

http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1399078

Volume 1 │ Issue 6 │ April 2015

Impact Factor: 2.0178 (UIF)

TOURISM IN KASHMIR:

CHALLENGES OF AND OPPORTUNITIES

Dr. Bilal Ahmad Khan

School of Economics, University of Indore, NAAC Accredit “A” Grade

Abstract: Tourism is not merely an activity for entertainment. It is an enriching and energizing

activity. For growth, tourism is the right vehicle. Tourisms is an important industry in the state of

Jammu and Kashmir and is regarded as multi segmented industry because provides different types of

jobs like hotel managers, receptionists, guides, tour operators, travel agents, photographers and many

other jobs. Tourism is considered to be economic bonanza for J & K state because industrial

development is very limited to hilly terrains. Being a labor-intensive industry, the scope of

employment is very vast. Kashmir is an area with great tourisms potential and provides immense

business opportunity for Kashmir region. The state is bestowed with beauty & rich forests, natural

lakes, fresh water. With resurgence of violence in the state, the number of tourists has dwindled

considerably over last two decades. Tourism, one of the main Kashmir’s main industries has suffered

tremendously due to violence in the region. The main objective of this paper is to explore possibilities

for tourism prospects in Jammu & Kashmir state and accordingly to initiate development activities in

the state that will step towards growth and prosperity of tourists in the entire state. The paper also

examines the problems faced by tourism sector. It indicates that tourism is still in early phase of

development and is viewed that valley has great potential.

Key Words: Right vehicles, Multi-segmented industries, Tourism potential, Business

opportunity

1. INTRODUCTION

Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state in India. In the seventeenth century

the Mughal emperor Jahangir set his eyes on the valley of Kashmir. He said that if

paradise is anywhere on the earth, it is here, while living in a houseboat on Dal

Lake. "Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast." If there is

Bilal Ahmad Khan- TOURISM IN KASHMIR: CHALLENGES OF AND OPPORTUNITIES

1213 AMERICAN RESEARCH THOUGHTS- Volume 1 │ Issue 6 │2015

ever a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here. In Jammu and Kashmir the

most important tourist places are Kashmir, Srinagar, the Mughal Gardens,

Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Jammu, and Ladakh. Some areas require a special permit for

non-Indians to visit. Kashmir is popularly known as "Paradise on Earth". The state

is bestowed with beauty & rich forests, natural lakes, fresh water. The state of

Jammu & Kashmir is known all over the world for its beautiful valleys, lakes,

snowcapped peaks, invigorating climate, valleys, cool climate, opportunities for

trekking fishing, skiing & number of archaeological, historical, cultural & religious

places, cool climate & hospitable people. Among all industries, tourism is an

important industry in the state. Tourism is considered to be economic bonanza for

J & K state because industrial development is very limited to hilly terrains. Being a

labor-intensive industry, the scope of employment is very vast. Tourism is

regarded as multi-segmented industry, therefore provides different types of jobs

like hotel managers, receptionists, guides, tour operators, travel agents,

photographers & many other jobs which are required to strengthen the tourism.

For centuries Kashmir has been centre of attraction. There are various

places of tourist attractions in the state visited by tourist. However most of places

are untapped. Tourism in Kashmir depends greatly on natural resources. Aharbal

waterfall, lush vegetation & snow covered mountains have come to symbolize

what tourism industry in Kashmir can offer. At national level, our country is also

progressing well in this sector. Tourism is not merely an activity for

entertainment. It is an enriching an energizing activity. For a developing country

like India whopping is on the path of growth through structural transformation of

economy, tourism is the right vehicle. In 2005 India emerged as one among the top

40 tourism earners. With its forward & backward linkages with the host of sectors

like transport, hospitality, education, health, banking etc. India is all set to reap

full potential of this vibrant sector. Therefore, equipping efforts are made by govt.

under five-year plans. India has significant potential for becoming a major global

tourism destination. It has always attracted people from all over the globe through

supreme & sublime hospitality, viz. athithi devobhava (guest is equal to God). The

World Tourism Organization (WTO) has reckoned India as the most favored

destination among the countries of south Asia receiving more than 50% of total

foreign tourist traffic in the area. We must appreciate the fact that India's share in



global tourist arrivals is only 3.4 % while its share in the country's GDP is 12%.It

has given employment to 120 lakh people directly & several lakh indirectly.

Tourism surely has emerged as an instrument of employment generation,

poverty alleviation & sustainable human development. The business impact of

tourism has been tremendous on travel, trade & hospitality. Indian handicrafts

particularly, jewelry, carpets, leather goods, ivory & brass work are the main

shopping items of foreign tourists. According to one estimate nearly 40% of tourist

expenditure on shipping is spent on these items. Kashmir is also known as

"Switzerland of East" and is famous for its wealth of beauty. Its snow-capped

mountains, rivers and fresh water lakes offer tourists ample opportunities for

trekking, rafting, skiing & mountaineering. The wondrous state of J & K is

bestowed with holy spots that make it an ideal pilgrim destination in India.

However Kashmir has been subject of revival claims by Pakistan & India, both of

which are nuclear powers & this problem has made the state a hot bed of hostility

for past six decades. This state attracted over million tourists in the year 1988.With

resurgence of violence in the state, the number of tourists has dwindled

considerably over last two decades. Tourism, one of the main Kashmir’s main

industries has suffered tremendously due to violence in the region. The state has

lost billions of dollars in tourism revenue. It is estimated that state lost 27 million

tourists from 1989 to 2002 leading to tourism revenue loss of us $ 3.6 billion. The

peace process was started in 2004 as an attempt to settle that question of

ownership over Kashmir. The peace process was a slow moving one but gave

some hope to tourism sector as the number of tourists visiting the state started

picked up since its initiation.

The Department of Tourism Jammu & Kashmir is a promotional and

regulatory organization in the State. In 1988, the State Government specified the

duties and functions of the Directorate of J&K Tourism as well as J&K Tourism

Development Corporation. All commercial activities such as operation and

management of accommodation in all Tourist Centers at Srinagar and Jammu

Tourist Complexes, Huts and Tourist Bungalows at various resorts were entrusted

to the JKTDC.

The Department carries out the task of overall planning, promotion

publicity marketing, and regulation of travel trade in terms of J&K Registration of

Tourist Trade Act. New life has been infused in to the initiatives for revival and



promotion of Tourism in the State. The organizational structure of the Department

has undergone perceptible over the years. The major restructuring included

creation of two separate directorates one each for Jammu division and Kashmir

division besides creation of 15 New Development Authorities for major tourist

destinations.

The state has Registration of Tourist Trade Act-1978 in force which

provides for protection of the interests of the Tourists visiting the state and

regulates the trade practice in the tourism sector. The Act has been amended to

make it more effective and relevant to the present day scenario of the tourism. It

covers:

Registration of firms dealing in tourist trade its facilitation and service

Categorization of Hotels, Houseboats, Restaurants, Transport etc.

Fixation of rates of accommodation and services.

Registration of Travel Agencies and safety to the interests of the tourists.

Penalties for Malpractices.

Policing and enforcement

Hospitality courses under Broad basing scheme have been sanctioned for six ITI’s

viz Jammu, Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kishtwar and Udhampur by Minisstry

of Tourism, GOI. The implementation of the scheme will strengthen necessary

infrastructures such as (buildings, equipments etc.) required for such courses.

2. OBJECTIVES

1. The initial objective of this paper is to find out the magnitude of tourists.

2. To examine the growth rate of tourists of state.

3. The last objective is to explore challenges of and opportunities for tourists

in Jammu and Kashmir and accordingly to initiate development activities in

the state that will step towards growth and prosperity for tourists in the

entire state.



3. HYPOTHESIS

In order to investigate the proposed problem, following hypothesis has been

tested in the course of investigation:

1. Ho: There will be positive and significant relationship between peace and

tourist inflows

4. METHODOLOGY

It is based on both primary and secondary data. As the primary source is

concerned I collected unpublished materials from various departments. However,

most present study is based on secondary data. Secondary data has been collected

from tourism department and economic survey of Jammu and Kashmir. Author

gathered, computed & codified the data in order to find out the tourist arrivals in

valley of Kashmir and percentage change of tourists over previous years and

impact of tourism on economy and its problems and prospects.

5. STATISTICAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Appropriate statistical techniques will be applied as follows

1. Growth Rate: In order to find out the change of tourist rate from one

period to another in the state, we find out the growth rate by this formula:

PR = VPRESENT – VPAST × 100

V present

Where,

P R= Percent Rate

V Present= Present Value,

V Past= Past Value

2. Time Series Graph: The time series graph is used to find out the trend of

classified tourists in different periods of time in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

3. Least Square Method: Fitting the line by the method of least square for the

data relating to tourist arrivals in Kashmir we use the equation:



Y = a + b x

a = ∑y/N,

b = ∑x y/∑x2

6. DISSCUSSIONS AND FINDINGS

Surely the Kashmir Valley is a Heaven on Earth, friendly people, beautiful

gardens, vast lakes and pristine streams and stunning landscapes, it is all that

"Enjoy the Incredible Kashmir". Tourism is an instrument of employment

generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. The business

impact of tourism has been tremendous on travel, trade & hospitality. Indian

handicrafts particularly, carpets, leather goods, ivory & brass work are the main

shopping items of foreign tourists. Kashmir known as "Paradise on Earth" is

famous for its wealth of beauty. Its snow-capped mountains, rivers and fresh

water lakes offer tourists ample opportunities for trekking, rafting, skiing &

mountaineering. The wondrous state of J & K is bestowed with holy spots that

make it an ideal pilgrim destination in India. However Kashmir has been subject

of revival claims by Pakistan & India, both of which are nuclear powers & this

problem has made the state a hot bed of hostility for past six decades. This state

attracted over million tourists in the year 1988.With resurgence of violence in the

state, the number of tourists has dwindled considerably over last two decades.

Tourism, one of the main Kashmir’s main industries has suffered

tremendously due to violence in the region. The state has lost billions of dollars in

tourism revenue. It is estimated that state lost 27 million tourists from 1989 to 2002

leading to tourism revenue loss of us $ 3.6 billion. The peace process was started in

2004 as an attempt to settle that question of ownership over Kashmir. The peace

process was a slow moving one but gave some hope to tourism sector as the

number of tourists visiting the state started picked up since its initiation and hence

hypothesis was accepted. However during 2006 violence spread in some main

areas of state due to which arrival of tourists declined. The fluctuated trend

continued till now. The arrivals of tourists depend on peace of state. Before

militancy intensified in 1989, tourism formed an important part of the Kashmiri

economy. The tourism economy in the Kashmir valley was worst hit. However,

the holy shrines of Jammu and the Buddhist monasteries of Ladakh continue to



remain popular pilgrimage and tourism destinations. Every year, thousands of

Hindu pilgrims visit holy shrines of Vaishno Devi and Amarnath which has had

significant impact on the state's economy. The Vaishno Devi yatra alone

contributes Rs. 475 crore to the local economy annually. Tourism in the Kashmir

valley has rebounded in recent years and in 2009, the state became one of the top

tourist destinations of India. Gulmarg, one of the most popular ski resort

destinations in India, is also home to the world's highest green golf course. The

decrease in violence in the state has boosted the state economy specifically

tourism. It was reported about seven lakh tourists visited Kashmir in 2010 and

23,000 foreigners. In 2011, the number of tourist arrivals in Kashmir touched the

mark of 10 lakh. Fortunately Kashmir is an area with great tourism potential &

provides immense business opportunity for Kashmir region. The growth rate in

the tourist arrivals from 1995 to 2013 has recorded a highly fluctuated erratic

trend. In the year 2000, 2001, 2002 there was a negative growth rate of (-) 92.37, (-)

54.16, (-) 165.35% respectively & thereafter there was significant increase in

domestic as well as foreign tourists’ arrivals in Kashmir. During 2006, the increase

trend went down to a negative growth i.e. (-) 40.13%.The reason was attacks on

tourists and violence in Kashmir valley.



Year Domestic Foreign Total Percentage Change

over previous

years

1995 322 8198 8520 --------

1996 375 9592 9967 14.51%

1997 7027 9111 16131 38.21%

1998 99636 10247 109883 85.31%

1999 200162 17130 217292 49.43%

2000 104337 7575 111912 -92.30%

2001 66732 5859 72591 -54.16%

2002 24670 2686 27356 -165.35%

2003 182205 8959 191164 58.68%

2004 358095 18234 376729 49.25%

2005 585702 19680 605382 37.77%

2006 412879 20009 432888 -39.84%

2007 417264 24576 441840 2.06%

2008 550100 22000 572100 22.76%

2009 520454 20809 541263 -5.69%

2010 698564 24376 722940 25.14%

2011 912779 50109 962888 24.92%

2012 955902 48780 1004682 4.17%

2013 998764 54476 1053240 4.62%

Table 1: Domestic & foreign tourists arrivals in Kashmir valley from 1995 to 2013



50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Figure 1: Domestic, foreign and total tourist’s arrivals in Kashmir valley from 1995 to

2013 shown by column

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

Domestic

Foreign

Total

Figure 2: Domestic, foreign and total tourist’s arrivals in Kashmir valley from 1995 to

2013 shown by column



7. CHALLENGES

Keeping the facts in view, there are many challenges in the state related with

study. The first problem is violence and turmoil in the state. Due to dispute and

conflict over Kashmir region, the outsiders find it endanger to move inside state.

Kashmir region is closed one due to animosity between India and Pakistan over

this region. Violence and turmoil adversely affected our industries. Tourism as the

one of the main industries in the Kashmir valley has suffered tremendously due to

violent activities. It has declined substantially since late 1980s when military

gained momentum. It is estimated that state lost 29 million tourists from 1989-2002

leading to tourism revenue loss of $ 3.6 billion. There are still some other

constraints which led to low rate of visitors’ experience. In addition to that,

tourism industry in Kashmir is facing other more problems like Inadequate

capacity, road connectivity between Srinagar and Jammu, costly travel, poor

organization i.e. fragmented market, lack of supportive infrastructure, rough

terrain and lack of infrastructure has been a constant hurdle, damage to the

physical infrastructure due to militancy and the disturbances have also eroded the

intellectual capital, lapses in security and safety, uneven progress and political

instability. Political instability set back to investment both domestic and foreign

investments which in turn lead to un exploitation of huge natural resources for

which the state of Jammu and Kashmir is known for. Political instability also

channeled the local investment into non development expenditure rather than into

productive sectors. Political instability, since 1990s has lead to huge diversion of

resources from productive sectors to the maintenance of law and order problems.

Unfortunately there is inadequate attention paid by the state government to

tourism sector of the State. It is now widely accepted fact that it is the

responsibility of the state to provide necessary infrastructure and other facilitate

for tourism development.

8. OPPORTUNITIES

The state is bestowed with beauty and rich forests, natural lakes, fresh water. The

state of Jammu and Kashmir is known all over the world for its beautiful valleys,

lakes, snowcapped peaks, invigorating climate, valleys, cool climate, opportunities



for trekking fishing, skiing and number of archaeological, historical, cultural &

religious places, cool climate & hospitable people. Due to these reasons Kashmir

has been center of attraction. There are various places of tourist attractions in the

state visited by tourist. However most of places are untapped. Tourism in Kashmir

depends mostly and greatly on natural resources. Aharbal waterfall, lush

vegetation & snow covered mountains have come to symbolize what tourism

industry in Kashmir can offer. The wondrous state of Jammu and Kashmir is

bestowed with holy spots that make it an ideal pilgrim destination in India.

Tourism is regarded as multi-segmented industry, therefore provides different

types of jobs like hotel managers, receptionists, guides, tour operators, travel

agents, photographers and many other jobs which are required to strengthen the

tourism. The State of Jammu and Kashmir has certain inherent strengths that can

be utilized to improve the inflow of people and to provide employment

opportunities on sustainable basis to the locals which are of strong base. The State

has untapped natural resource. A natural environment should be very profitably

utilized and conserved by natives- environment friendly tourism industry.

In order to sustain growth and improvement in the tourism sector, the State

should focus on:

1. To improve prospects of long term growth by creating physical

infrastructure such as transport and communication services.

2. To improve the efficiency of utilization of resources invested in electricity

and transport sectors.

3. To carry out reforms in delivery of health, civic and other community

services.

4. Improving productivity and income of those engaged in tourism industry.

5. Transforming the service industry in the State, driven by tourism, from

informal and low income to modern by setting up a world class tourism

infrastructure, largely on the basis of private investment and entrepreneurship;

So, finally suggestions must be offered for overall improvement of tourism

sector in Kashmir valley:

1. Emphasis must be placed on security of interior tourism network, make

tourists feel secure & safe.

2. The second thing that we need is a tourism policy with clear cut action plan

for its sustainability. That action plan would need to address three critical areas-



environmental preservation, infrastructure development and internationally-

accepted services standards.

3. Effective planning, development and marketing programs should be

resigned.

4. To address infrastructure inadequacy, state government should negotiate a

kind of “Marshall Plan” with Government of India. The kind of money on tourism

gets peanuts. A tourism “Marshall Plan” would require something Rs. 5000 crore.

5. For environmental preservation we would need to restructure Tourism

Department Authorities and introduce a full-fledged Environmental Compliance

Agency in the Tourism Department.

6. The absence of internationally-accepted services standards, our tourism is

degenerating into a highly low end and low quality economic quality. So address

would on internationally-accepted services standards.

7. Quality assurance is important to attract customers and encourage repeat

visits.

8. Eco tourism for sustainable livelihood must be encouraged.

9. Stepping up investment and boosting infrastructure activities and enriching

security should be on the top of agenda.

10. Service quality i.e. in hotels, airports, railway stations etc. needed to be

upgraded.

11. Proper market segmentation should be done on the basis of criteria like

demographic, socio economic and geographic variables.

12. Education, research and training are crucial cogs in the wheel of tourism.

10. CONCLUSION

Finally, Kashmir is an area with great tourism potential and is a leading edge of

development. Kashmir is considered as a most elite destination in the world.

Tourism is the main industry in the state. It is regarded as multi-segmented

industry therefore, provides different types of jobs like hotel managers, guides,

travel agents and others. The enchanting geographical landscape and range of

ecosystems leaves a lasting impression on the tourists in Kashmir. However, there

are many problems in the state related to this sector. The main problem is violence



and political instability in the state. The state has certain inherent strengths and

prospective that can be utilized to improve the inflow of people

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TOURISM IN KASHMIR: CHALLENGES OF AND OPPORTUNITIES - Bilal Ahmad Khan