Snow is once again filling Kashmir resort with tourists

GULMARG, India (AP): The snow is knee-deep in the pastoral city of Gulmarg, or “flower meadow,” on the Indian-controlled Kashmir plateau.

With its white blanket, the idyllic hill station sees tourists refilling their hotels, skiing, sledding and touring the Himalayan landscape.

The strong influx of tourists represents a dramatic change for the disputed Kashmir tourism industry, which faced the double whammy of the coronavirus pandemic and the severe civil rights restrictions imposed by India on the region in August 2019.

Gulmarg was developed as a resort by the British almost a century ago, and the region’s timeless appeal to foreign visitors has made it a year-round destination. In summer, tourists meander through meadows, ravines and evergreen wooded valleys. In winter, they go snowboarding and trekking through Asia’s largest ski area.

The end of 2019 of the semi-autonomous state of Kashmir and an unprecedented reduction in security transformed Gulmarg into a ghost town, an illustration of the region’s economic ruin. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries set economic losses in the region at $ 5.3 billion and about half a million jobs lost as of August last year.

But the worst was yet to come. Last March, Indian authorities imposed a harsh blockade to fight the coronavirus, while curbing travel abroad.

The pandemic, however, caused the Indians to reconsider their own vacation. Once the snow covered the hill station last month, they decided to travel to Gulmarg when otherwise they could have gone abroad. And for the first time in 15 months, hotels are sold out by the end of February.

“No one is worried about the virus. Everyone feels free, ”said Meenu Nanda, 38, an Indian tourist.