Tourists begin to be alike in months after the April murders in Pahalgam

Two months after a deadly attack in India administered by India, he scared tourists and brought India and Pakistan to the edge of the war, the picturesque valley nestled in the Himalayan mountains began to see the first signs of the Revival of Tourism.

Shabana Awwal makes videos of their children as they alternate to get on a water bike to walk on Dahl's lake, the most emblematic tourist site of Srinagar.

Awwal has traveled from the Western state of Rajasthan with her husband and children in a group of 15 – all members of their extended family.

“I have visited Kashmir many times and have seen all the major attractions such as Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam and wanted to show all these places to my relatives,” she told the BBC.

Awwals had planned their 10-day trip in March. “The summer in Rajasthan is unbearably hot, so we were planning to escape to Kashmir during the school's school vacation,” she says.

But as she plans the trip, the circumstances have changed dramatically. On April 22, the fighters attacked tourists visiting a place for beauty near the town of Pahalgam, killing 26 men.

Tourism is the basis of Jamu and Kashmir's economy, federally administered territory, and this unprecedented guide of tourists sent shock waves through India. Authorities closed 48 tourist destinations in the valley and two -thirds of them still remain closed.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who lobbies hard to open these spots to attract visitors to the region, says that “the impact of the attack was immediately and very widely felt.”

“There was a mass eviction of those tourists who were already here, and a massive cancellation of those who offered to come. Then India and Pakistan, for all intentions and goals, were almost at war for a few days in May,” Abdullah told the BBC.

“So the lasting impact is felt both in the deterioration of relations between the two neighboring countries and our tourist season for the year will be: What word to use for it? I guess you can call it a disaster.”

Kashmir, requested by India and Pakistan, has been a flash for decades. Nuclear armed South Asian neighbors waged two wars and a limited conflict over Kashmir. For more than a quarter of a century, the region has observed an armed uprising against the Indian government, but even in their peak, tourists have rarely been targeted.

Awwal said her family decided to continue her vacation because “we weren't really afraid” and “we thought we would handle everything that came to us.”

“We are happy that we went ahead with our plans. The situation here is normal,” she says, accusing the “media super” for the impression that it is dangerous to travel to Kashmir.

Awwals are not alone in their optimism. Jammu's Deepti and Anuj Gandhi, who made their plans only last week, say “There is no destination for a summer vacation better than Kashmir.”

“Children like to ride water bicycles and then we will walk by boat in the lake. We come here every year, so why break the tradition now?” She says.

Earlier this week, the Ani news agency announced that a group of field tourists had arrived in the city.

Arrival just weeks after Pahalgam's attack are the cause of optimism for hoteliers, taxi drivers, guides, traders and owners of Shikaras-Venetian narrow-colored wooden boats, similar to Venetian cabin, which Ferry of Lake Dahl.

In April, President of the Association of Shikara Hadji Viney Vali Mohammed Bhat said that the Boulevard of Dahl's lake was full of thousands of tourists, had daily congestion and many complained that they were difficult to accommodate.

“The attack on tourists was a pity and tragic,” he says.

“This affected all of us and our livelihood. Tourists are our lives, tourism is our rescue plan. God knows what we pay for sin,” he adds desperately.

Ravi Gosain, President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, who recently runs a three-day “trip to establish facts” to tour operators-as “they are the ones who send travelers to Kashmir,” the tourism has been flourished in Kashmir, have been built in Kashmir,

Last year, the government said 23.6 million tourists visited Jamu and Kashmir, with 3.49 million visiting the valley.

This year, says G -N -Gosain, the peak season is lost in the valley, but tourism can still appear.

“The locals are very welcoming, the hoteliers, guides and shopkeepers are very friendly and people come back. You can see it – all flights come in full, tourism bounces quickly.

“I think national sentiment is that if the purpose of the attack was to derail tourism, then it will not succeed. But I hope it does not happen an unharmed incident,” he adds.

According to reports, some of the merits about the Kashmir tourism revival are also going to a new train, which for the first time connected Srinagar with the rest of India.

The train twice a day from Srinagar to the Katra Station, in the Jammu-who recently made titles to cross the “highest rail bridge in the world in the world”-worked with packaging and tickets were sold over the next two months.

Katra, which is the starting point for those who visit the popular Hindu shrine of Vayshni Devi, attracted 9.48 million worshipers last year.

And many of those who arrive there since June 7, when the air -conditioned train was ordered in a launched air -conditioned train, jumping to him to go to Kashmir.

Among the worshipers who take advantage of the easy connection is Ghanshyam Bharadwaj and his wife Mamata Sharma and their children. For the Delhi -based couple, enjoying hot sweet tea near Dahl Lake, the coming of Srinagar was “the Spur of the Decision for the moment.”

“It only took us three hours from the tar. We'll spend the night here and take the train back to Tomorrow and travel to Delhi,” said G -n Bharadwaj.

“I ask him if he was worried about traveling to the valley so soon after Pahalg's attack?

“There is nothing to fear. This is my country,” he says.

Chief Minister Abdullah says the fact that worshipers choose to come to the valley is a good start.

“Now those who come for a few hours, I would like to see them come for a few days. Those who come in a few days I would like to see them have the confidence to stay for a week.

“But at least it's a beginning and that's what it helps.”

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