Srinagar: Gurez Valley has witnessed a massive boost in tourism last year due to the incessant initiatives undertaken by the Indian Army, Civil Administration and locals of Gurez as joint stakeholders.
As per figures, over 15000 tourists visited Gurez last year as a result of these arduous initiatives as compared to a total of 300-400 tourists visiting Gurez in the year 2020.
“This major swell in the footfall of tourists in the Valley after the pandemic has brought a new ray of hope in the lives of the unemployed and rudderless youth and locals of Gurez as many of them have now taken up various avenues of self-employment through tourism-related activities,” an official said.
“To accelerate the boom of tourism in Gurez and to mark it as a must-visit destination on the itinerary of every tourist visiting Kashmir an Influencers’ Meet was organised by the Indian Army in collaboration with J&K Tourism from 14-18 April 2022,” he said adding that the initiative aimed to showcase the phenomenal tourism potential of Gurez through a dynamic social media promotion strategy.
Eight social media influencers from different parts of the country participated in the event and carried out a tour of the different tourist attractions of Gurez and promoted Gurez on a prodigious level through their social media content.
“The fruits of the initiative have now started bearing as tourist inflow into the valley has increased considerably over the past few days and more and more tour operators are now expressing their interest in Gurez as a result of mass enquires being received from across the country.”