“Tourism department plans to boost winter tourism with the purposes of maintaining the increasing trends of tourist arrival during winter too this year”.
Though the current spell of dry weather is yet to end ahead of the commencement of the harshest period of “Chilla-i-Kalan” but recent snowfalls in the higher reaches particularly at world famous tourist spots Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg has attracted an unprecedented rise in the tourist arrivals in view of the forthcoming annual Christmas and New Year celebrations. As Christmas and New Year came closer the number of tourists arriving in Kashmir is showing an unprecedented rise in view of the forthcoming Christmas celebration likely to end with New Year festivities on December 31. As tourism department is already working hard to change Kashmir into an all weather destination, the hotelier in Kashmir have announced special packages for the entertainment programs on annual Christmas celebrations and new year festivities this year. With over one crore tourist arrivals noticed during summer this year the tourism department plans to boost winter tourism with the purposes of maintaining the increasing trends of tourist arrival during winter too this year . With hotels will already booked for Christmas celebrations and new year festivities the enthusiasm among the tourism stakeholders is brewing up in Kashmir and more so on tourist hot spots like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg . The revival of the tourism industry has created hundreds and thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities for local youth and as such local economy has got the boost it needed to recover from the loses they suffered during three consecutive lockdown in three years of high intensity covid-19 pandemic like their contemporaries in many states and union territories of the country. With winter tourism becoming a new reality in Kashmir valley for the second consecutive year the tourism stakeholders including hoteliers, Taxi drivers, tourist guides, travel agents and others are seeing continuity in the tourist activities at the top tourist hot spots of the valley.
As the rise in tourist activities are likely to show rise in the employment opportunities for the local youth during winter in Kashmir this year, it is for the tourism department to encourage the engagement and involvement of more and more local youth in the tourist activities this winter and more so in the conduct of Christmas celebrations and new year festivities at tourist hotspots like Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam. Tourism sector if used for employment of youth would open up new floodgates for their welfare and such an approach would hopefully change the idea of youth empower into a reality. After all the empowerment of youth is rooted in their economic empowerment.
A couple of heavy snowfalls during the forthcoming harshest period of winter “Chilla-i-Kalan” could make this year’s winter tourism a grand successive and rise in the tourist activity would by all probabilities change the idea of all weather economic activity into a reality in Kashmir. As the rise in tourist activities are likely to show rise in the employment opportunities for the local youth during winter in Kashmir this year, it is for the tourism department to encourage the engagement and involvement of more and more local youth in the tourist activities this winter and more so in the conduct of Christmas celebrations and new year festivities at tourist hotspots like Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam. Tourism sector if used for employment of youth would open up new floodgates for their welfare and such an approach would hopefully change the idea of youth empower into a reality. After all the empowerment of youth is rooted in their economic empowerment.
