Tourism To J And K Suffers, Agencies Cancel Trek Plans To Valley

In accordance with the security advisory, several travel agencies and trek organizers around the country took immediate steps to ensure the safety of tourists. After 83 days of being locked down, Jammu and Kashmir withdrew the security advisory by the Home Department of Jammu and Kashmir, dated August 2, thereby opening the gates of the valley. However, tourism for the state took a back seat, with mid-May to September being the peak season.

In accordance with the security advisory, several travel agencies and trek organizers around the country took immediate steps to ensure the safety of tourists. This included transferring the trekkers who are part of ongoing trips to safer locations while providing participants for scheduled trek expeditions with the alternatives of refund, redeemable coupons or treks rerouted to the states of Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Explorer Trek and Tours, Pune, said, “We had our last tour to the region of Kashmir, the Great Lake in the last week of July…That was the last trip before the season to visit the area ends. As for planning treks for the upcoming year, we are quite unsure of how the situation in the region will unfold. Hence, we are not planning any treks in the valley…”

“We canceled all trips,” said Pooja from Trek the Himalayas, Rishikesh. “People who booked trips in Jammu and Kashmir were offered alternative trips to other hill stations or a redeemable voucher for the same trip next year, only if the situation is better.”

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