BENGALURU: Impacted by the Pahalgam terror attack, many tourists from Karnataka have cancelled their travel bookings to Jammu and Kashmir.
According to preliminary information collated by the Karnataka Tourism Society (KTS), over 5,000 tourists who had planned to go to Jammu and Kashmir through tour operators have cancelled their bookings and do not mind losing money. “The number of people who have booked and cancelled through organised operators is big, but those who have done so through unorganised operators is even larger. The attack has ended this tourism season and the future of tourism industry will be known only when the next season starts from October,” said KTS Secretary S Mahalingaiah.
Karnataka has around 1,000 domestic tour operators, of whom 100 are registered with KTS. Mahalingaiah said information from all tour operators of the number of people who had gone to J&K and who had made bookings is being collated.
A senior official in the Ministry of Tourism, seeking anonymity, said, “Tuesday’s incident has not just affected the number of foreign tourists arriving in Kashmir but the entire country. It will also impact the domestic tourism sector and its ripple effect will be felt for a long time. How tourists will react to visiting J&K will depend on what the Centre and J&K government decide. How many locations will be opened for tourism and when will be crucial.”
An official from the Karnataka State tourism Department said tourism to other states will also be impacted. “It is only human for people to get scared. The impact will be felt among people coming to Karnataka also,” he said.
Tour operators said domestic tourist season to J&K till June has now been completely wiped out. Its impact on the October bookings is also being felt. Religious tourism has also been impacted as 50% bookings to Amarnath, Vaishnodevi and surrounding areas have been cancelled, said a tour operator.
Tour operators and experts said tourism can be revived if the government takes aggressive proactive steps and instills confidence among tourists. “There should be sufficient security in place. This terrorist attack will have an impact. The government should deploy green police teams across India. These are dedicated police personnel deployed at tourist destinations to keep a watch on people and tourist locations. This has been a long-pending demand,” said Shiva Shanmugham, Member, Tourism Committee, FKCCI.
Home and tourism departments along with the central, state and union territory governments should collectively take stern measures, he added.