PAUSE BEFORE THE BLOOM: THE TERROR ATTACK HAS TAKEN THE SHEEN OFF KASHMIR'S TOURISM BUSINESS-BUT LOCALS ARE HOPEFUL OF A REVIVAL

IN THE lush, pine-scented valley of Pahalgam, where tourists once queued for treks and trout fishing, silence hangs heavy.

- VIDHI TAPARIA & ASHUTOSH KUMAR

“Kashmiris [directly] bear no fault for the tragedy, yet it’s the local vendors who will shoulder the economic fallout of declining tourism,” says Shaila, a tour operator. For over a decade, she has watched Kashmir slowly reclaim its place on India’s travel map. But on April 22, a terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 tourists has dealt a blow. “Just 10-20% of flight bookings are still active,” says Sandeep Pandita, an official with Srinagar International Airport. In Srinagar, hotel lobbies are deserted, houseboats lie empty on the Dal Lake, and tourist chatter has given way to uncertainty.

Cancellations for Kashmir-bound travel have soared. “80-90% of our bookings for May and June are gone,” says Varnika Chawla, founder of Trail The Himalayas, a company that curates bespoke travel experiences in the valley.

For the local economy, the blow couldn't have come at a worse time. This is usually when Kashmir sees around one-third of its total annual tourists. In FY25, J&K’s real Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) stood at ₹1.45 lakh crore. Of this, tourism directly contributed around 7%, or approximately ₹18,550 crore, according to chief minister Omar Abdullah's Budget speech. When factoring in allied services—hotels, transport, communication, trade, and food services—tourism’s indirect economic footprint balloons to nearly 29% of the GSDP, or ₹41,615 crore.