Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said J-K has again “turned the corner” to become a pre-eminent destination, even as he pitched for choosing the path of “value-based tourism” instead of chasing volumes.
Addressing an event here, the National Conference leader also flagged the high air fares for Srinagar-bound domestic flights, especially if booked a day or two before travel, saying he hoped the new Vande Bharat train connecting Jammu with Srinagar, which is expected to be flagged off soon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will bring some relief for the travellers.
The event — ICC Aviation & Tourism Conference 2025 — was hosted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Abdullah said the beauty of Jammu and Kashmir has beckoned tourists for a long period of time, even before the Valley came under the shadow of terror and violence.
“Tourism is something that Jammu and Kashmir is famous for. Long before we became famous for the troubles, we were famous for the beauty of Jammu and Kashmir, and for the tourism of Jammu and Kashmir. And this beauty is not something that is talked about in recent times,” Abdullah said.
He illustrated his point by citing a famous couplet inscribed on a wall of the Red Fort that describes Kashmir as a “heaven on earth”.
“These words were written centuries ago. From then to now, Jammu and Kashmir has attracted attention largely for good, but in recent years, somewhat for the bad as well,” the chief minister said.
“But, I can safely say that we have turned the corner, and Jammu and Kashmir today has once again become a pre-eminent destination for tourism in the country, increasingly for overseas tourists as well,” he said.
In his address, Abdullah also pitched for Jammu and Kashmir tourism to choose value over volume, and urged all the stakeholders to endeavour to work towards ensuring that tourists feel like coming back to J-K after returning from there.
“It is my firm belief that Jammu and Kashmir now needs to reposition itself in terms of the tourist destination it wants to be… Today, I am increasingly of the view that we need to reposition Jammu and Kashmir, not as a destination for volume tourism, but as a destination for value tourism. We need to go up the value chain,” the chief minister said.
When Jammu and Kashmir was struggling with the aftereffects of violent attacks and terror, “for us, tourism was a visible sign of a move towards normalcy”, he said.
Increase in the number of tourists added to its economic activity, and also “gave us a sense that perhaps better days were ahead of us”, Abdullah said.
“And, therefore, we chased volumes, we went out and tried to get as many tourists as possible to visit Jammu and Kashmir, because the more the tourists, the more impact, and therefore it was a win-win for all of us,” the chief minister added.
Emphasising the importance of “value-based tourism”, he said, “We have in mind nine new destinations that we hope to get funded through multilateral agency funding, which we hope will ease some of the pressure on Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg in the Valley, and also open up areas of Jammu hitherto undiscovered for tourism”.
Until the new destinations come up, the Valley that one sees today is pretty much “saturated”, Abdullah said citing instances of urban congestion that one tourism season kicks in in the Valley.
“The moment the Tulip Garden is opened, Srinagar, to all intents and purposes, grinds to a halt. A journey that in winter will take about 15 minutes, in April-May can take anything up to 2.5-3 hours, simply because of the volume of tourists,” he said.