The number of tourists visiting the Kashmir valley between August and December 2019 has plummeted 86 percent in comparison to the same period in the preceding year, data provided to The Wire under Right to Information Act by the Kashmir Tourism Department revealed.
The data collected since August 2019, when the government abrogated Article 370 and imposed a lockdown in the erstwhile state, to the end of the year shows the total number of tourist arrivals in the valley stood at 43,059. This is a 86 percent fall vis-à-vis the same period in 2018 when 3,16,424 tourists visited the valley.
This decline further deepens to 93 percent if compared with the same period in 2017, in which the data shows 6,11,354 arrivals.
On August 2, 2019, the government had asked tourists to “curtail their stay in the valley immediately” and return, via an official order, citing “terror threats.”
In August 2019, the number of tourist arrivals was 10,130, the data showed. The corresponding figure for arrivals in 2018 and 2017 was 85,534, and 1,64,395, respectively. Out of 10,130 tourists, 9,285 were domestic, while just 845 were foreigners.
The following month (September) was even worse with a mere 4,562 tourist arrivals.
The number of visitors increased a little after the government relaxed its August 2 order. The figures for October 2019 show 9,327 tourist arrivals. However, it was way less than the 59,048 in the same month in 2018 and 1,33,220 in 2017.
Tourists barely increased in November and December, with the arrival figures for these months recorded at 12,086 and 6,954, respectively.
The decline in tourism in the six months resulted in a fall in earnings, job losses and salary cuts in the valley, the report added.
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