This year has been a non-starter as far as tourism industry is concerned. A bomb blast taking place in the jungles of Kupwara district in Kashmir, is presented in such a manner, as if it had occured at Srinagar. Mr. Ahad hailed the efforts of government in trying to put a new life into the tourism industry. He pionted out that the State government managed to grant loans to the people related to tourism industry. The government also arranged free trips of valley based travel agents to Mumbai for motivating their counterparts to send tourist groups to the valley.
Government wants to do something for promotion of tourism in the valley.
He further added that situation in Sri Lanka is worst as compared to Kashmir. But the coverage given to such incidents of violence in Sri Lanka, by the media is in a low tune and consequently has no effect on the tourist inflow. Ishfaq, another Kashmiri carving out his living through tourism related activities, holds the unstable political sitaution in Kashmir responsible for a crumbling back of once flourishing tourism Industry in Kashmir. He pointed out that Kashmir issue is a big hurdle now in the smooth tourist traffic in the Valley. Kashmir issue needs immediate solution to ensure political stability in this part of the world.