Pahalgam attack slightly hit Kashmir tourism, but people regaining confidence: Tourism Minister Shekhawat

Shekhawat praised the recent WAVES Summit held in Mumbai, and said that it showed “India’s capacity to hold such mega MICE events”.

The recent terror attack in Pahalgam has slightly impacted tourism in the Kashmir Valley, but there has been an improvement in sentiment of tourists in the recent days, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told Moneycontrol on Sunday.

“It’s unfortunate what happened. We’ve been working to build new tourist destinations in Kashmir. At least six more destinations, we wish to build in the valley. All that work will experience a slight setback due to the terror attack,” Shekhawat told Moneycontrol, at the sidelines of ‘Meet in India’ Conclave in Jaipur.

“However, I still want to thanks Indian tourists, who went back to Kashmir, a week after many cancelled their plans. They are the ones who are building confidence among Indian tourists about Kashmir, which is safe and worth visiting,” he said.

Between 2021 and 2023, the Kashmir Valley witnessed average annual tourist arrivals of 20.1 lakh, 80 percent higher than the 11.1 lakh seen during 2016-2018.

Meanwhile, at the Conclave--organised by FICCI--Shekhawat said that India can become a $30 trillion economy by 2047; and by that year, tourism’s contribution to GDP may rise to 10% from 7-8% at present, if the Centre, states, and the private sector work together and collaborate.

He highlighted that states are working actively to market their tourist destinations. “Many (states) have tweaked their policies to facilitate hospitality and tourism experience. That gives me a great energy and hope for a bright tourism future of India,” added the minister.

“I feel in the next ten years, India can become one among the top 10 tourism destination in the world,” said Shekhawat. According to Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), published by World Economic Forum, India ranked 39th among 119 countries in 2024.

'MICE' Tourism

The minister emphasised that India has the capacity to become the ‘MICE capital’ of the world if coordinated and targeted efforts are made in that direction. MICE or 'Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions' refers to business and tourism driven by mega events.

“Synchronised efforts, infrastructure creation and co-ordination among the government and private sector will help India become the MICE capital,” said the minister.

Shekhawat praised the recent WAVES Summit held in Mumbai, and said that it showed “India’s capacity to hold such mega MICE events”.

At the Conclave, Suman Berry, vice chairperson, NITI Aayog said that MICE also holds tremendous potential to generate employment, and generate economic activity.

“Tourism, globally, is the second largest employment-generation sector in the world. MICE events will help up-skilling our tourism workforce, which will subsequently raise their compensation as well,” Berry said.

Berry also batted for building an entertainment ecosystem around major cities, where MICE events will take, as that will encourage tourists and delegated to stay longer in the city. The noted economist suggested India should build entertainment centres similar to the scale of Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and Bali, to boost MICE-linked tourism.