Recently one of the veteran trekking enthusiasts of valley shared a photograph which sent waves of joy running among people associated with adventure tourism in Kashmir. It was a photograph of a huge group of European tourists negotiating a mountain bridle path on the mountains of Kashmir. The tired but joyous batch of foreign adventurers posed for the cameras marking a new era in adventure tourism in Kashmir. In 70s and 80s trekking scene in our mountains was dominated mainly by foreign trekkers. There are still quite a few jagged peaks which have till date only been attempted or successfully sumitted only by a group of European trekkers. Foreign tourists bring more capital and are a good reference point to build on and expand tourism in other geographies of Europe. The fact that these foreign tourists are well connected on various platforms with other adventure enthusiasts across the globe can mean that a few initial batches can help adventure tourism scene in Kashmir gain traction in other geographies of the world. We need more and more of tourism guides speak Spanish, French, and German as these countries claim to have the highest percentage of adventure-loving people. The group of foreign tourists who posed for the photographs can be a great indicator for things to come. Time is not far when foreign tourists would come in droves and adventure tourism would be back on track. We must congratulate the present government dispensation for bring tourism back on the track in the valley.
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