Tourism industry in Kashmir valley has been adversely affected as it has not witnessed any snowfall this season so far.
In this month of January ski resort of Gulmarg along with all tourist spots like Sonmarg, Yousmarg and Pahalgam are without any snow, resulting in cancellation of bookings by tourists especially those who used to visit in winters for skiing and watching the snow.
In the month of December 2023, there has been no snowfall in Kashmir and in the current month of January so far the nights are witnessing minus temperatures and the days are warmer for the first time.
Ski resort of Gulmarg along with all the high altitude areas of Kashmir is looking barren without any winter snow. Kashmir is facing an unusual and unprecedented dry spell this year and the tourism industry is visibly disappointed as the tourists are cancelling their booking for Kashmir.
Gulmarg used to attract thousands of tourists every week in the winters and the government used to conduct a lot of sports events at Gulmarg during the winters. As the weather is likely to remain dry till the third week of January, environmentalists and experts have expressed their concern for the dry spell here. Many of them have predicted drinking water shortage during the summers and huge food crises in the region.
Previous year Kashmir received a lot of rains and snowfall in the winters and most of the tourist resorts were open for the tourists to witness snow and stay at such places. J&K Tourism Department conducted a lot of snow festivals in the areas like Doodhpathri and Yousmarg in the Budgam district and also opened snow tapped areas of Kupwara like Machil and Keran for the tourists to enjoy snow filled winters in Kashmir.
Government has also decided to conduct national winter games at Gulmarg between February two and six this year and there is fear that if there is no snowfall how the games would be conducted. With no snow in the health resorts of Kashmir, the tourism sector is getting impacted as in the past few years, winter tourism had picked up in Kashmir due to the heavy snowfalls during winters. “It is a worrying trend for the tourism industry as it will adversely impact the lives of thousands of people connected with tourist trade,” said Muhammad Younis, a travel agent working in Srinagar.
Tour operators and travel agents are waiting for the snow as IMD has no forecast for any active western disturbance or snowfall in Kashmir till January 25.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who used to go skiing to Gulmarg every year, is disappointed with no snow at the resort.
He posted on X “I’ve never seen Gulmarg so dry in the winter. To put this into perspective, here are a couple of photographs from previous years, both taken on the 6th of Jan. If we don’t get snow soon the summer is going to be miserable. Not to mention skiers like me who can’t wait to get on the slopes but there’s nothing to ski on”. As the people of Kashmir have offered special prayers for the early snowfall in Kashmir, the tourism industry is under impact as the cancellations of the bookings are continuing.