The best season for Kashmir Tourism in its entire history has been 1988-89. This was the time when Kashmir received more than seven hundred thousand tourists including more than sixty thousand foreigners. The most important aspect of the mid eighties tourist traffic was the up market segment. The class of tourists visiting Kashmir comprised the cream of the high society from different metros of the country and the valley had become an in destination for the glitterati. All the top most stars of Bollywood would compete with each other to get a reservation in the famous and expensive Palace Hotel on the banks of Dal Lake which used to be full throughout the season. It was impossible to get a room in Gulmarg during May and June as the cream of Indian Golfers would be playing there. We used to name this elite crowd as “Brown Europeans”. They resembled in every way a European crowd and would behave like it except that their colour was brown or black. Even the foreign groups which would visit Kashmir in large numbers those days were very rich people including hordes of retired Americans on global jaunts. A stay in a house boat, which the foreigners would call the “Floating Palaces”, was a must. In fact they were crazy about house boats and shikaras. Apart from these luxury stays they were fond of angling, hunting, and mountain trekking. Kashmir was truly a high end destination and a stay here had a snobbish value in the high society. Sometimes one would receive requests for assistance in reservation of accommodation in Gulmarg and Pahalgam, especially in Tourism Chalets, through the Prime Minister’s House and even in few cases through the President’s House! Such was the demand for Kashmir. The tourist arrivals were pegged to cross one million in 1990 when everything went up in smoke due to sudden eruption of turmoil. Tourist figures almost touched zero arrivals with only journalists and diplomats from Delhi making repeated trips. However, the local Travel Trade and the Tourism Department did not allow the industry to completely die out. The House Boat owners played a commendable role. They deserve credit for keeping Tourism alive in the valley. In fact, a prestigious travel magazine of Singapore carried a story, “Kashmir, a story in persistence”, which depicted the efforts of the members of tourist industry in Kashmir to keep the flag of tourism flying against all odds. The Travel Agents Association of India in its Annual Convention in Mumbai gave a special award to Kashmir Tourism for aggressive marketing in spite of the most difficult challenges posed by adverse travel advisories of almost all foreign offices as well as depiction of Kashmir as a dangerous flashpoint by world media. These joint efforts did revive tourism to the valley but most of the visitors were from the budgeted section. The figures did reach three to four hundred thousand in this category. However, the up market tourists still avoided Kashmir. They could not be convinced that it was a safe destination. We started getting chartered buses from a number of metros. One of the motivating factors for the revival had been patriotism and nationalism. The large number of pilgrims to Holy Amarnath Cave did not all come purely for religious reasons. The character of the clientele got totally changed. Many Hotels started providing the Charter Operators their own kitchen facilities. Even some of the Hotels whose Managers would never think of allowing outside food, gave a free hand to the organisers of these groups simply to keep the flow on. House Boat owners who would be very reluctant in entertaining domestic tourists welcomed these in bulk irrespective of their origin or status. There was no alternative. This was a compulsion for survival in the most difficult conditions. Kashmir Tourism should be grateful to these Charter Operators and Enterprising Travel Agents from different parts of the country in helping to sustain it in the worst episode of its history. However, the phenomenal increase in the low end traffic at the cost of up market arrivals is bound to change the image as well as the character of our globally acclaimed product. A number of destinations have been killed by uncontrolled bulk low end traffic. Tourism is basically an economic activity which is controlled by market forces. It is the quality of the clientele which would matter in the end rather than the quantity. It is better to earn good money over a longer period of time from an up market clientele than to go in for quick bucks in a shorter period from a low end mass tourism. Additionally for the very sustenance of the product there has to be a balance between the preservation of environment and its exploitation for any type of tourist activity. We have to aim for “Sustainable Tourism”. In the present tourism scenario the activity has become highly competitive not only cost wise but primarily quality wise. We have to improve and upgrade the product not only to keep in circulation but to retrieve our high end clientele which we had already achieved but is still shying away from us after the unprecedented break. This would need a change in strategy by upgrading the product which has considerably deteriorated over the years as also the entire marketing approach would have to be re-oriented. The upgrading of the product involves huge investments and would take some time. There could be some interim measures to revive the high end tourism. One of the solutions could be promoting special interest niche tourism. The winter aspect of this product is already being taken care off at the moment and it has only to be fine tuned in regard to facilities and marketing. For summer this special interest tourism could also include “Golfing Holidays” designed for particular groups by providing a circuit. The State Tourism Department is already refurbishing and upgrading courses at Gulmarg and Pahalgam. Only the marketing has to be re-oriented and specifically targeted for this product. The other areas could be organised trout fishing in mountain streams, trekking and climbing, white water rafting and kayaking, and of course the return of the “Bollywood Stars”. Here one could even try to explore the possibility of roping in Hollywood also. In fact, some of the Hollywood producers had planned a number of movies including “Seven Years in Tibet” in J & K but these had to be shelved for political reasons. There are a number of foreign TV serials especially those involving adventure and science fiction whose producers could be motivated to shoot some episodes in Kashmir. There are also immense possibilities of organising some high profile live events especially in adventure sports. Another important sector is the “Conference Tourism” involving senior management of multi-national companies. All these possibilities need to be considered in the short term.

The long term product upgrade has to be planned properly with the involvement of the best available expertise in the field. Any ad hoc measures in this sphere will not only damage the existing resorts but also distort our product. One highly critical aspect to be kept in view in regard to product upgrade is the basic fact that our main potential is our environment. People would always prefer a “Paradise” in its natural form without any extra make up. Artificial paradises are available world over but it is difficult to find a natural heaven in its original form. Investments for basic infrastructure should be explored from Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and other such Global or Multi-national Institutions. For all commercially viable super structure local entrepreneurs should be encouraged for soliciting joint ventures and franchises from reputed hospitality and entertainment chains. The State should act like a motivator, facilitator, and of course as a regulator.

Now let us come to marketing strategy. For the revival we have been looking at any one any where for starting the flow. It is the right time to go in for specialised marketing efforts aimed at the quality clientele as opposed to quantity. Within the domestic market, the high society in metros has to be targeted. In fact we should not hesitate in tapping a similar market within the state itself. There are plenty of people here who can afford high profile holidays at our resorts. In the foreign market, the travel advisories are still playing havoc with organised travel to Kashmir. However, there are a number of short haul markets where no such advisories exist. These are South East Asia, Middle East, and Central Asia. The only handicap with these areas has been easy physical accessibility. It is expected that an International Airport will become functional at Srinagar sometime during 2007. This will provide a direct access to these potential markets by providing short duration direct flights. We must plan now both for selecting the possible products as well as targeted marketing of these in the identified segments of these markets. Kashmir Tourism is in a critical and decisive stage. We have to urgently take a long term perspective view and plan accordingly. This can only be done by Public-Private sector participation. The stalwarts of the industry need very urgently to put their heads together for some brain storming. We must decide whether we want Kashmir to be a run down destination or revive it as the famous and highly sought after once in a lifetime “Paradise on Earth”!