Snow-draped Valley draws huge rush of tourists

4,400 DOMESTIC TOURISTS AND 400 FROM THAILAND, MALAYSIA, INDONESIA AND RUSSIA VISITED THE VALLEY IN FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY

SRINAGAR : Snow covered meadows, picturesque Himalayan mountains, pine forests and ice streams flowing across the Valley after fresh spell of snow are providing a perfect setting the tourists have been dreaming to see.

The new year starting on an encouraging note for reviving tourism in Kashmir as more and more people are arriving in the winter paradise post heavy snowfall in both mountains and plains, officials said.

The first week of January, which witnessed two spells of snowfall, saw as many as 4800 tourists in the Valley, including 4400 from regions across the country and remaining from countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and even Russia, an official said.

“Many visitors are pouring in from different regions and we are expecting a good winter season. Gulmarg is 100 percent booked,” said state tourism director Nisar Wani.

The meadow’s Gondola, one of Asia’s largest and highest cable car ringed by pine forests and snow-capped Himalayan mountain peaks, takes skiers and snowboarders to a height of 3900 to 4100 metres to Afarwat Mountain near the LOC.

Besides winter wonderland Gulmarg, there has been a substantial footfall in south Kashmir’s tourist resort of Pahalgam and central Kashmir’s Gagangeer. “More and more tourists started thronging since Christmas Eve (December 25) and the intensity has been increasing with snowfall in January. There was a combined footfall of 7600 people in Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Gagangeer in January, of which 700 were visitors from various foreign countries,” said Amarjit Singh, SSP tourism enforcement.