Kashmir witnessed lowest tourist footfall from August to November this year in comparison to figures of six years for the corresponding period, the Centre has revealed.
The figures were presented by Union Ministry of Tourism inParliament in response to a question by MP Prasun Banerjee.
As per the figures, in 2014, at least 1,54,873 touristsvisited Kashmir from August to November, 2,68,530 tourists in 2015; 1,26,464tourists in 2016; 5,45,601 tourists in 2017 and 2,67,955 tourists visited theValley during the corresponding period in 2018.
This year, however, only 36,105 tourists visited Kashmir fromAugust to November. As per the figures 2017 saw highest number of touristsvisiting Kashmir month-wise from August to November – 1,64,410 tourists inAugust; 1,35,670 in September; 1,33,220 in October and 1,12,301 in November.
In 2019, as per official figures, only 10,130 touristsvisited Kashmir in August, 4,562 in September, 9,327 in October and 12,086 inNovember.
In his response the Union Minister for Tourism, Prahlad Patelhas said that Government of India was taking various steps to promote tourismin J&K.
He said steps taken for promotion of tourism in J&Kincluded campaigns by participating in various national and internationaltravel marts.
He said the government has also launched publicity campaignsthrough prominent newspapers for tourism promotion n Kashmir; promotionalcampaigns through various trains by way of train wraps and initiated promotionsthrough LEDs at prominent places in Delhi and Mumbai Airport.