April and May typically mark the high point of J&K’s tourist calendar. But this year, just as the valleys began to fill with summer travellers, tragedy struck. The attack on April 23 has triggered an avalanche of cancellations across Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and other popular hill destinations in the union territory. Hoteliers are watching bookings disappear overnight.
“We’ve seen over 100 cancellations just this week,” said the general manager of a five-star property in Pahalgam. “The rooms that are still occupied will be vacated by Wednesday night. "This was supposed to be our busiest time.” At another hotel, guests have postponed their stays to mid-May, uncertain of the security situation.
Tourism is not just a seasonal buzzword for J&K—it’s a cornerstone of the UT’s economic roadmap. Recognising this, the administration rolled out a comprehensive tourism policy in 2020 aimed at creating 50,000 jobs annually and attracting ₹2,000 crore in investments every year for five years. The policy had begun showing signs of traction.
In 2024 alone, 23.6 million tourists visited the UT—double the number from 2021. These figures helped push tourism’s share in the UT’s non-tax revenue (NTR) to 0.5% by December 2024, up from just 0.2% in 2021-22. With three months of data still pending, the tourism-related NTR has already crossed last year’s numbers and more than doubled from earlier years.
But all of that could now be in jeopardy.
J&K’s hospitality sector, largely driven by local entrepreneurs, is among the worst hit. Arjun Baljee, president of Royal Orchid Hotels, called the terror strike a “body blow” to the region’s tourism industry. According to him, the attack may push tourists to opt for safer hill destinations like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand instead.
Tour operators and booking platforms are scrambling to respond. Cleartrip has reported a 7x rise in flight cancellations and a nearly 40% drop in future bookings. MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip have extended flexible cancellation policies and waivers for trips up to April 30, while the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is evacuating stranded tourists and offering full refunds or rescheduling for upcoming bookings.
Six IRCTC tours were underway on the day of the attack. Efforts are on to wind up these trips earlier than scheduled and fly tourists out of Srinagar. One group had already been airlifted by April 24, with more evacuations lined up over the next two days.
Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has called for full refunds from airlines, hotels, and travel operators, acknowledging widespread anxiety among travellers. Whether such measures will calm nerves or encourage rebooking anytime soon remains uncertain.
On the ground, Pahalgam’s once-bustling streets now wear a deserted look. Dal Lake's iconic shikaras lie moored. Even Gulmarg, known for its spring snow and cable cars, is seeing thinning crowds.
And yet, the region had only just been making a comeback from years of instability. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had recently pitched the UT as a promising tourism hub at an event in Delhi. The timing of this setback, say observers, could not be worse.
While the primary shockwaves are being felt in tourism, the incident has reopened questions around security, trade, and investment in the region. Past instances of violence have had ripple effects, even impacting bilateral trade. Notably, Pakistan suspended trade with India in August 2019 after Article 370 was revoked, and cross-border commerce hasn’t seen meaningful recovery since. Between FY09 and FY10, bilateral merchandise trade ranged between $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion. Those levels now seem distant.
In that sense, the terror attack could revive old tensions and stall new economic efforts. But for now, all eyes are on how the UT’s administration, businesses, and people respond to yet another moment of crisis.
As one hotelier in Pahalgam put it, “We just want peace to return. Tourism will follow—but not before that.”
