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Bad publicity hits Kashmir tourism

Rasheeda Bhagat

Recently in Srinagar

THE Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah, has drawn flak from environmentalists and others for giving Srinagar another golf course. While the environmentalists have seen red for the forests which had to be cleared for the sprawling 250-ac re golf course, others felt that the amount spent (over Rs 25 crore) could have gone to improve the State's infrastructure.

But the tourism industry sources and hoteliers feel it will help bring in the upper segment of tourists -- both domestic and international. ``I think people will thank him in the years to come. This is the only thing in Kashmir which is 21st century,'' s ays Mr Amit Amla, a Director of Broadway Hotel, one of the very few star hotels in Srinagar.

Thanks to the new Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar played host to the Hero Honda India Golf Tournament for professionals which was held in the city in the first week of October.

``We were expecting 40 people to come, but we got 69 participants. We had top Indian golfers coming, including Jyoti Randhawa; some stayed with us and some stayed with the grand Palace (Oberoi),'' Mr Amla said.

He feels that in an era when tourism has almost disappeared from Kashmir, this kind of a world class facility will induce a category of tourists which has stopped coming here.

``People from the top strata of society who used to come to Kashmir and spend a month here playing golf in Gulmarg, or angling or taking part in such leisure or sport-related activities, have now stopped coming here. The Chief Minister has taken a lot of criticism for developing this golf course. But I give him credit for bringing in something like that. It helps those of us in the tourism industry,'' Mr Amla said.

Following the successful holding of this tournament, another one for professionals is lined up for next May, with one for amateurs being planned before that. Amateur golfers being the wealthier ones, it is believed that their visit would spark several to urism related activities which would boost the economy of this tourist-starved State.

He admits that after the October 1 blast in the State Assembly complex, tourists have virtually disappeared. Hotels are having a pathetic 10 per cent occupancy. ``Yesterday we had five guests and today we have 16; of the 16, 13 are from the media and thi s includes journalists from AFP, BBC and Indian organisations. We even had an Al Jazeera correspondent yesterday.''

Maintaining that things were not as bad in Kashmir, particularly Srinagar, as media reports implied, Mr Amla said, ``Business is really bad. Of course the October 1 incident has hurt tourism very badly. Whenever we see the beginning of a season and there is some hope on the tourism front, something or the other happens and it sets us back by a few months. Basically, the militants achieve what they want when the media gives it wide coverage.''

As he points out, the worst-hit is the common man, who loses his livelihood. ``Right from the cooly, to the taxi driver to shikara owner or the handicraft artist -- across the board they are all hit. We are a tourist-driven economy; there is no other ind ustry here.''

Mr Amla wants the journalists for whom Kashmir is a rich source of news to tell people that it is a safe destination. ``(The few tourists) who did come, went back very happy. They have said we were unnecessarily scared. But there is such a negative image of Kashmir created by the media that the tourist is afraid to come.''

The main problem is lack of knowledge about the topography of the place even among fellow Indians. ``Most of the attacks happen along the LoC... at various places but people think it is all happening in Srinagar. A person sitting in Kerala or Mumbai does not know the difference between Kupwara and Srinagar; Kupwara is about 100 km from here. If something happens in Meerut, does Delhi get affected? The distance is the same but not the impact.''

One major problem any businessman faces in Kashmir is that all business interests are linked to tourism. His family runs a cinema hall in Srinagar. ``But to break even, we need to run four to five shows a day; but we can manage only two to three, as nobo dy will come for a movie in the evenings,'' says Mr Amla.

He recalls that tourism had almost returned to normal in 1999. But then Kargil happened. ``Pre-Kargil, not only was tourism normal, people returned to Kashmir almost with a vengeance. For 10 years, they had not been able to come here; so they flocked to Srinagar and Gulmarg and Pahelgam. There were foreign tourists as well but the domestic tourists were here in good numbers. They were keen to be back and see what was happening here.''

But his hotel missed that boom as it was renovating and opened for business only post-Kargil. Having sunk Rs 3 crore in the renovation of only half the hotel, they could not even think of closing shop.

Mr Amla is hopeful of better times. ``If the Indian Government can seriously address the problem of militancy, then normalcy is possible and in a short time too. But if it's going to be a half-hearted measure, then normalcy will return to Kashmir at a ve ry slow pace. But normalcy has to come. People are fed up.''

The hotelier is at pains to point out that after the kidnap of five foreign tourists in the early '90s, the militants have never targeted foreign tourists. Except for a couple of incidents involving pilgrim tourists, even domestic tourists had never been ``hurt or harassed by the militants. But our problem is getting a positive press to inspire the confidence of tourists and bring them back.''

Picture: Mr Amit Amla, Director of Broadway Hotel.

Picture by Kamal Narang