Chief minister Omar Abdullah has expressed hope of an early revival for Kashmir tourism, contrasting the deserted Pahalgam roads he had seen during his previous visit with scenes of bustle from his latest trip.

His post prompted Congress MP and former Union tourism minister Renuka Chowdhury to suggest the upcoming parliamentary standing committee meeting be held in the famed resort.

Omar had visited Pahalgam on May 27 to chair a cabinet meeting there, looking to send a message to the outside world that Kashmir was open for visitors.

“The last time I was in Pahalgam I cycled through a market that was all but deserted. Today I came back to a Pahalgam that was bustling with activity,” the chief
minister said on X on Sunday evening.

He posted pictures showing Pahalgam’s roads teeming with vehicles despite a shower.

“Tourists from various parts of the country competed for space with local picnickers who were enjoying the cool climate & rainy weather. It’s very satisfying to see the efforts my colleagues & I have been putting in slowly bearing fruit,” Omar said.

The April 22 Pahalgam massacre had mauled Kashmir tourism, triggering 90 per cent cancellations, the closure of dozens of tourist spots, and fears that a revival would be painfully slow. But the government and the tourism industry kept slogging to bring tourists back.

On June 17, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration started a phased reopening of tourist spots, with eight places each in the Jammu and Kashmir divisions declared open in the first phase.

Reacting to Omar’s post on Monday, Chowdhury said it was time that MPs joined
the effort to revive Kashmir tourism.

“It should be our collective endeavour as parliamentarians to ensure that the next set of standing committee meetings should happen in Pahalgam,” she said.

“Let the people of this beautiful part of India feel that we are together in this. We
owe it to them to return their livelihoods.”

Rauf Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, said the situation had improved but a full recovery was awaited.

“We feared that a revival would take a long time but the way things are shaping up is encouraging,” Tramboo told The Telegraph.

“We have started getting regular queries. Some are materialising and some are not. We are focusing on autumn and winter tourism, beginning from September.”

Tramboo said the industry was banking heavily on the months after the Amarnath Yatra — scheduled from July 3 to August 9 — when there would be fewer restrictions on tourist movement.

Authorities have since the 2019 constitutional changes been imposing heavy restrictions on tourist movements to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, prompting non-pilgrim tourists to avoid travel.

Amarnath pilgrims stay mostly in government-allotted facilities for security reasons and contribute little to the local economy.

Many ordinary Kashmiris, too, are making their own little contributions to the tourism economy by visiting tourist sites and projecting a message of safety.

The Jammu and Kashmir Motorsports Federation organised an all-women car rally from Srinagar to Gulmarg on Monday, with women from varied backgrounds taking the wheel to cruise through the enchanting landscape.

“Come, experience the real Kashmir,” was the message to all Indians.