Many a times Tourist Destinations have been destroyed by the killing of the proverbial “Golden Hen”. In their greed to make a fast and quick buck the developers have destroyed the very destinations they helped to build in the first place. There are two aspects to this proverbial destruction. First is the Environment related danger of over-development. One of the main criteria for development of a potential tourist destination is its Environment. The landscape, the climate, and weather make a place attractive for holidays. Kashmir is the best example of Environment being the primary attraction for development of Tourism. Our mountains with lush green meadows and dense forests. Lakes, rivers, and natural springs. Above all a very salubrious climate makes it an attractive proposition for people from the hot plains to come to spend their holidays here. However, every area has a limitation for development. If it is developed beyond its capacity, the very attraction which made it a tourist destination in the first place gets destroyed. Development has to be planned and very cautious. The correct methodology is to aim for “Sustainable development”. There has to be a balance between the Environment and Development. Normally both are in perpetual conflict. One has to work out the best alternatives to sustain the both. Some of our resorts have already suffered damage on account of mushroom development without any checks and balances. These have almost become towns and ceased to be real and genuine mountain resorts. Normally one expects all construction activity in mountain resorts located in remote areas to be environment friendly. It must blend into the landscape and the materials used have to go with the surroundings or the buildings have to be camouflaged to fit in a particular environment. For every resort there is a master plan for development which incorporates building bye laws prescribing various criteria including use of specific materials. However, these plans are observed more in violation of laws than in enforcing these! Period of turmoil had given a rest to these areas as most of the tourist arrivals had completely dried up. No one was interested in investing in any tourism related activity including the resorts. Now that the things are looking up and appreciable tourist arrivals have been registered, there are many plans afoot for developing existing as well as new resorts. It has been reported that certain resorts may be handed over to private sector for development on turnkey basis. As a matter of principle it is the most ideal alternative to involve private sector fully in tourism development. However, one has to be on guard regarding the “Sustainable development”. Most appropriate would be to involve private sector in the development of completely new resorts after identifying potential areas. This can allow planners the freedom to design and implement a plan of choice fitting in the available environment. They will not have the handicaps of blending existing with the new proposals which sometimes becomes a difficult situation. To monitor the development it is imperative to have a team of consultants and specialists who can look after the environment side to ensure proper and planned development. This is essential to prevent over-development often indulged in by greedy developers wanting to make a fast buck which sometimes can result in the killing of the “Golden hen”. There are many examples worldwide where over-development has completely ruined a tourist destination. Even in our neighbourhood, Manali and Simla are facing similar problems.

The other aspect which needs to be kept in view in order to prevent killing of a destination is the pricing of the product and services. The most important clientele for a destination are the repeat tourists. These are attracted by both the behaviour of the people as well as by the prices of the services. Tourists can be turned away either by the rude, commercial and greedy behaviour of the locals providing the services as well as by the unpredictable prices which keep on changing upward without any notice on increased tourist activity. Out pricing has destroyed many destinations. All travel agents want to be sure about the stability of prices and any mid-season increase disrupts all their programmes. It is essential to have price stability in the provision of various services if we want repeat satisfied tourists as well as continued future business. Any uncertainty about prices turns away many potential visitors. In many European destinations staggered prices are offered depending upon the season. These prices are available well in advance and are not changed without sufficient notice before the start of the season and there is no mid-season increase. This helps Travel agents to market the same destination to people with varying budgets at different times of the year. This system is prevalent in many Spanish and Portuguese beach resorts. In India, Goa gets over three hundred thousand foreign tourists out of whom 42% are repeat tourists. In addition they get 1.3 million domestic tourists. Even in the best and the peak tourism period, Kashmir was never able to attain such figures. We have always been plagued by unstable and unpredictable price changes. This aspect cannot be overseen by Government alone even though they have the most stringent legislation on the subject(J & K Registration of Tourist Trade Act 1978/82) which empowers the District Magistrate to fix prices for various services in consultation with Prescribed Authority (Director General Tourism) and the concerned Association. The authority is exercised fully and specifically during Amarnath Yatra but not in general during the entire tourist season. However, there should be no need for Government to intervene. The major players themselves need to evolve some mechanism keeping in view both the economics as well as ethics. If we have complete understanding among the service providers who take a long term view of the situation keeping in view the overall interests of the destination, there should be no problem at all and we will be assured not only new business regularly but a large percentage of repeat tourists. Unfortunately, even in the past our attitude has been one of arrogance and disregard for the feelings of our guests. Kashmir has been famous for the hospitality of its people. There have always been aberrations which fortunately do not constitute the majority. There was a story which we were told by our elders about the treatment of some tourists by the officers of the department manning the Tourist Reception Centre. According to this story when a dissatisfied tourist came to complain about a wrong committed with him, the officers on duty totally ignored him. This prompted the tourist to say that he is not crazy enough to come back to Kashmir ever. The officer replied that it does not matter as there are millions of other crazy people who will anyhow come here! Well, it is this kind of attitude which can surely kill the “Tourism hen” that has been laying the “Golden Eggs”! Will the major players including the Government in the interests of the future of tourism in Kashmir take due and urgent notice please?