Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday acknowledged that 2025 has been a difficult year for tourism in the valley following the terror attack in Pahalgam and the recent blast in Delhi, but expressed hope that snowfall in December would help revive visitor numbers.
“This year has not been easy for us from a tourism point of view. Be it Pahalgam, Delhi, and Nowgam, it has had a huge impact on our tourism,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a tourism event.
He said the sector is heavily dependent on weather conditions and that early snowfall is crucial for increasing tourist footfall.
“The key to increasing footfall is snowfall. We had a totally dry November. It is hoped that God will bless us and we will have good snowfall in December. When it snows, we think places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, and Srinagar will benefit from that, but it is up to God. The sooner it snows, the sooner our winter tourism season will start,” he said.
Abdullah added that the government has completed all necessary preparations and promotions to support the sector. “Promotion is the main thing in tourism. The more promotion and marketing you can do, the more people can come,” he said.
He noted that although tourists were visiting the valley, the turnout was lower than expected. “Tourists are coming, maybe not in the numbers that we want them to, but they are coming. When we started the Chrysanthemum garden, tourism got a boost, and when it snows, more tourists will start coming,” he said. He also expressed optimism that Christmas and New Year could bring an uptick in arrivals.
Meanwhile, cold conditions in Kashmir eased slightly as night temperatures rose at most places due to cloudy skies, though they remained below freezing, meteorological department officials said.
A layer of fog covered large parts of the valley, particularly around water bodies.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.1 degrees Celsius on Friday night, higher than the season’s coldest of minus 4.5 degrees the night before.
Konibal in Pulwama district was the coldest location in the valley with a minimum of minus 6 degrees Celsius.
Qazigund recorded a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius while Kupwara saw the mercury dip to minus 4.9 degrees Celsius.
Kokernag in south Kashmir registered a minimum of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam recorded minus 5.2 degrees Celsius and Gulmarg minus 1.3 degrees Celsius.
The meteorological department has predicted mainly dry weather across the valley till 10 December.
On 22 April, 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in a terror attack in Baisaran meadows at the Pahalgam tourist resort.
On 10 November, a car blast near the Red Fort in Delhi claimed 15 lives. An accidental blast at Nowgam police station in Srinagar on 14 November killed 9 people.