SRINAGAR: The hotels in Kashmir were jam-packed until June and the rush is now witnessing a downward trend, said hoteliers here.
Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, a prominent hotelier and the chairman of J&K Hoteliers Club told that till June the hotels were fully occupied, but with the arrival of monsoons and the end of holidays, they are witnessing a dip in bookings.
“The current booking patterns have started dipping as the holiday phase has passed and the arrival of monsoon has further changed the mood of aspiring travelers,” he said.
Another hotelier said they were witnessing good business until June this year, but are currently hosting minimal arrivals. “This is not a new phenomenon, the next three months are like that, and the tourist arrivals go on the lower side due to the end of holidays,” he said.
Apart from that, the visitors, mainly from north Indian parts who prefer to travel to Kashmir by road in their cars have deferred their travel plans due to the rush of the annual Amarnath Yatra which has exerted extra pressure on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, he cited.
Chaya, while calling for awareness and promotion of MICE tourism, said the government should disseminate information to bigger corporate houses to hold the events in Kashmir.
“The next three months will be the lower side, as far as the hotel bookings are concerned, but the government can emphasize and ask the bigger corporate houses to hold the MICE events in the valley,” he said, adding, “Not just the MICE events, the next few months can turn out the valley into a top wedding destination.”
The authorities should give extra focus with regard to the promotions on summer scenic beauties of Kashmir, Mushtaq suggested.
He said the hotel industry has not yet experienced any shortage of space in terms of the availability of rooms for visitors. Even homestay facilities have not yet reached full-scale occupancy, he said.
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha earlier this week said that Srinagar is jam-packed with tourists and that he is getting calls about the availability of rooms almost every day.
“Last year, 1.88 crore tourists visited J&K and this year, the number is expected to increase further,” he said. “The hotel infrastructure will come up at district level too besides at the tourist resorts of the UT.”—(KNO)
