SRINAGAR: After exulting over an overbooked summer, travel operators are gearing up for a wave of cancellations following the attack in Pahalgam, expected to hit one of biggest economic lifelines of the region.
Multiple industry insiders said they could not recall a major terrorist strike so openly targeting tourists from a specific community. “We are getting a lot of calls for cancellation,” said Nasir Shah of Indian Association of Tour Operators.
Tourists from Maharashtra and Rajasthan, stranded after the attack, were keen to leave the UT soon. “The roads are deserted, and the Army is everywhere. We’re safe, but others don’t want to stay another day. I’m not sure how everyone will manage return flights,” said Pune-based lawyer Vijaysinh Thombare, currently in Srinagar with his wife NCP functioanry Rupali Patil-Thombare.
A local hotelier, whose hotel was fully booked, said: “They panicked and didn’t want to stay.” However, they couldn’t proceed to Jammu due to the Srinagar-Jammu highway being closed because of landslides.
Many vacate Pahalgam hotels, soldiers evict tourists from Gulmarg gondolas
A wave of fear and uncertainty has gripped tourists stranded in J&K following the attack.
Chandrakant Kale, an IMD official from Pune, had just left Pahalgam with his wife moments before the attack. “We came to know about it while we were on the way to Srinagar. I felt totally shaken,” Kale said over the phone.
Pune-based lawyer Vijaysinh Thombare, currently in Srinagar with his wife NCP neta Rupali Patil-Thombare, said tourists are alarmed and eager to leave. “Most of us are scared and want to leave J&K as soon as possible,” he said.
“We were at Pahalgam Sunday, then moved to Gulmarg the following day. Today, we were enjoying a gondola ride when soldiers instructed all tourists to vacate and return to hotels,” he said. “The roads are deserted, and the Army is everywhere.”
From Rajasthan, Vipul Bhatia and his friends Aman and Arpan — holidaying in Pahalgam — were out sightseeing Tuesday when their driver urgently told them to return to their hotel. “Shops shut down immediately, security checks intensified, and helicopters flew overhead, likely evacuating the wounded,” Bhatia added.
Many tourists in Pahalgam and surrounding areas left for Srinagar, vacating hotels. “They panicked and didn’t want to stay,” a hotelier said. However, they couldn’t proceed to Jammu due to the highway being closed because of landslides.
(With inputs from Mihir Tanksale in Pune, Vimal Bhatia in Jaisalmer and Naseer Ganai in Srinagar)
