Actor Atul Kulkarni has a shikar ride. He called on tourists to visit Jammu and Kashmir. | Photo Credit: Imran Nissar
Bollywood stars and nationwide tour operators join their hand to instill a sense of confidence that to some extent broken by the recent terrorist attack of Pahalgam, which left 25 tourists dead.
Sources have stated that the Ministry of External Affairs is also joining for efforts and referring to countries issued by travel councils that they called their citizens not to visit Jammu and Kashmir, including the US, Great Britain, Australia and Canada. In a special briefing for about 20 ambassadors last week, Foreign Minister Vikram Misri also submitted a specific application to give the countries that provided advice and consider the impact of the abolition of tourists on the economy in the state, said various diplomatic sources to the Hindu.
Officials also stated that the J&K government and the center are likely to start joint campaigns to see tourism back on the track in Kashmir. Since the abolition of Article 370, Tourism has been the center of the Assembly as a sign of returning to normal in Kashmir. In 2024, Kashmir visited a record of 26 Lakh tourists and more than a dozen new tourist destinations were popularized.
Bollywood actor Atul Kulkarni joined the actor Sunil Shetty and defended that people of the Earth would not break their travels to Kashmir. Mr. Kulkarni, who met tourism players in Pahalgam, said six terrorists could not terrorize 1.4 Indians of Crore.
“It is not possible to terrorize us. The ordinary Indians have a weapon for the first time to defeat terrorism. It is tourism. People do not have to cancel their reservations in Kashmir. They should come and meet people and experience a place,” said Mr. Kulkar, who passed Shikarou on Lake on Monday.
He said it was a hit by an attack that forced him to visit Kashmir. “Terrorists have tried to threaten us. I came to Kashmir to tell the message that it is part of our country and we will still come here. We have to defeat terrorists’ proposals. I invite people not to go with the negative news of WhatsApp and social media.
Mr. Kulkarna’s report came two days after Mr. Shetty resembled a similar challenge in Mumbai. “My next holiday trip will be to Kashmir. Everyone should plan the holidays to Kashmir. We have to visit Kashmir as it was, and we will remain part of our country.
Mushtaq Chaya, chairman of Kashmir Hotel Association (KHA), the body of the hoteliers based in the valley, said the terrorist attack deepened tourism in Kashmir, with 80% of the reservation was immediately canceled. But he said he was hoping for a rapid recovery. “We receive support from tour and travel companies such as Puja Travels and others to attract tourists to Kashmir,” he said.
Satish Vaishya, boss of Puja Holiday Bombai, recently said that his company would start the campaign “Love Kashmir, promote Kashmir” to bring tourists back to Kashmir. “I hope tourism will rise again,” he said.
The Head of the National Conference (NC) (NC) and MLA Tanvir Sadiq, considered to be a close assistant to the main Minister Omar Abdullah, said that the J&K Mulling Government to address the participating parties of the tourism and Bollywood film industry.
“The tourism industry cannot be held by a ransom of an incident. We are planning to revive. The report is that Kashmir remains safe because people are strongly against terrorism and violence,” Sadiq said.
He said that the local administration and the center were on the same page when tourism was revived in Kashmir.
“The efforts of the main Minister Omar Abdullah to organize a meeting of all parties, conference of the stakeholders of the tourism and a special meeting of J&K to the assembly sent clear and positive news from Kashmir.
Official sources said that the Ministry of the Interior (MHA) has already extended a helping hand to the government and ensured that no student or trader of Kashmir was damaged outside the J&K after the attack. MHA also facilitated meetings of J&K Cabinet ministers with the main ministers of BJP states to instill confidence in students studying outside J&K.
(With inputs from Suhasini Haidar in Delhi)
Published – April 28 2025 22:01 is
