Citizens of the state with the highest VAT would rather buy a TV then go on a vacation!
Kashmir outbound tourism also catches the stagnation bug
Srinagar: With inbound tourist flow to Valley almost stagnant, the outbound tourism is also facing the same fate as Kashmiri’s who usually travel for religious purposes has touched its low ebb during the current month.
The Travel Agents Society of Kashmir disclosed that the number of outbound tourists from Kashmir visiting rest of the world is zero.
“Kashmiris travel abroad for Umrah or Hajj and a minuscule number travel to visit Ajmer in groups during winters but outbound tourists during this month has fallen to zero,” said Abdul Khaliq Wangnoo, president of the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir.
Wangnoo said that Kashmiris are very poor when it comes to spending on travel contrary to rest of the world where people spend good part of their income on travel and leisure.
Here, people are more concerned about spending their wealth on building houses and marriages, he adds.
He said that the main aim of traveling or visiting a place for pleasure is ensuing relaxation and creating a healthy mind and body. However this is not offered in religious tourism people usually opt for in Kashmir.
“Today active tourism combines several different aspects including adventure, eco-tourism and other cultural aspects,” said Wangnoo adding that we are not exposed to this kind of tourism.
According to Wangnoo in 1988-89 the then Managing Director of the JKTDC, Mohammad Yousuf Khan, backed by some travel agents wrapped up plans for outbound tourists to South Asian Countries and Europe but his efforts failed.
He said that people in developed world prepare their budgets and select destination ahead of time. “They know the real meaning of travel and we should also lean from them,”said Wangnoo adding that we cannot explore different destinations even though there are some which can fit people’s budget.
The tour operators say that tourism industry is fragile and nay sort of bad news immediately affects the whole industry.
About the present scenario the tour operators say that it is still dismal, however they are trying their best to woo tourists to visit the Valley.
Even though information about hotel, houseboat availability and rates is easily available over internet, still the response is low said a travel agent, Jiya Baba.
The threat of Swine flu and air fare hike is also telling on the flow of tourists, he adds.
Contrary to Valley tourism, the Indian tourism industry seems to be on recovery path. According to government data the sector saw a 7.6 percent positive growth in April this year compared to the same period previous year. The growth has been positive after three consecutive months of negative growth, the data reveals.
This month saw a significant improvement in foreign tourist coming to India, though it registered a negative growth in foreign tourist arrivals during May 2008. India registered only 3 percent decline in foreign visitors in April 2009 compared to a sharp decline of 18 percent in January 2009.
(Rising Kashmir)