Time to look beyond Gulmarg and Pahalgam

Tourism has peaked in Kashmir. Lakhs of tourists are visiting Kashmir every year creating a ripple of optimism among the associated players in the tourism industry. Kashmir Valley has been blessed with pristine valleys, enchanting mountains, bubbling springs, and lush green meadows. Recently we saw scores of foreign tourists trekking our mountains. It is music for years. Every week we hear a positive story which adds to brand Kashmir. The present government is working hard to woo tourists to Kashmir and industry players have expected satisfaction over the performance of the current dispensation. The opening of virgin places like Gurez and Bangus to tourists has diversified the tourism potential in Kashmir. There still remain places like Brenwar which is just 30 odd kilometres from Srinagar but still majorly unexplored by tourists. Besides that, there is a huge potential of community tourism. It always took a scouting agency of a Bollywood production house to find newer touristy places in the valley. We ourselves can help develop tourism in every village of Kashmir. Young entrepreneurs can develop their own villages with minimum investment and make them places of attraction for the tourists. Kashmiri youth must take advantage of the current favorable government dispensation and start to invest in tourism. Small-scale investment in nearby villages can go a long way in bringing employment to Kashmir as well. It is definitely time to look beyond Gulmarg and Pahalgam. We need to explore our valley and develop tourism-worthy places.