jamwal wrote:Even I'm surprised.As Hulaku jii said, hotels are overflowing with tourists and Amarnath yatra hasn't even started probably due to bad weather. Base camp is meters deep in snow still in this month according to reports
. I attended a Tourism Expo 3-4 months back in New Delhi and J&K pavilion had a fair bit of presence. Perhaps people are getting bored of usual hill stations and need a change. It'll be much easier to reach Srinagar with work on construction of railway line and widening of national highway getting completed soon. Lack of terrorist related violence might also be a factor. Laddakh must also be enjoying the same tourist boom. A lot of people I know I planning to go or already have been there. Some of the tourists perhaps stay in Srinagar on their way to Laddakh too. Helps a little with acclimatising and rest before the difficult road journey
Jamwal ji, as I told you before the Amarnath rush is usually the maximum around Raksha Bandhan so the crowd of tourists right now has nothing to do with the Yatra. Obviously when the Chari Mubarak starts then there will be even more tourist-pilgrims.
Even the hoteliers in Manali and Shimla (I know quite a few) are feeling the Kashmir pinch this time. I assume it has a lot to do with new generation of tourists who have not been to Kashmir but have been enamoured by the tales of the "Paradise on Earth" and this year they felt it was their chance to visit as you never know what happens next in the Valley. Its like making hay while the sun shines.
As for Ladakh it has been booming since many years and you can see that when you walk around the main bazaar. All my Ladakhi friends are now Guest House owners and some even work as location specialists because there are always film crews in Ladakh. The well heeled $$ carrying foreign tourists have always flown in, and not affected by events in Kashmir. The Ladakhis unlike their Balti and Zanskari cousins are now affluent.
I personally look forward to the opening of the Chaddar road from Nimu to Padam so that Zanskar opens up to the world, though I guess then it wont remain the last Shangrila like it like the Mustang valley in Nepal.