Kashmir tourism is staring at a loss of Rs 2000 crore with tourists pulling out in droves post the Pahalgam terror attack, and travel agents are pinning their hopes on social media by actors reverses the trend and brings back tourists to the Union territory.
On April 22, terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen and leaving several others injured.
The cancellation trend continued into the last week of April, with 90 percent of the tourists not turning up.
“The Kashmir tourism business is worth around Rs 7000-8000 crore a year. This year we will suffer a loss of Rs 2000 crore for sure due to cancellations,” says Rauf Tramboo, president, Travel Agents Association of Kashmir.
“We have the maximum number of tourists coming to Kashmir from March to June. And post April 22, the cancellation is huge as people are refusing to turn up,” said Tramboo.
Asked about the situation for May, Tramboo said, “We have 65 percent cancellations for May. The only silver lining I see is that enquiries have started coming in for June. And, I hope we reverse the trend and let the tourists come back to the valley once again.”
Thanking Bollywood actors Atul Kulkarni and Suniel Shetty for starting the trend of #ChaloKashmir on social media, Tramboo said, “This is a positive change. From boycott tourism in Kashmir to Chalo Kashmir slogan is a good sign. We are hoping things will change.”
Atul Kulkarni is in Pahalgam right now and has posted photographs from the spot on his social media handles.
He had also posted a picture showing empty seats on a Mumbai to Srinagar flight, saying, “Mumbai to Srinagar flight. Crew said these ran full. We need to fill them again.”
Soon after, he started the hashtags #chalokashmir and #feetinkashmir
Tagging Atul Kulkarni, actor Prakash Raj wrote, “Kashmir Hamara Hai. Hamara hi Rahega. Love You @atul_kulkarni. Lets keep going there.”
Suniel Shetty too in a media interaction in Mumbai stated, “Agle chutti Kashmir mein hi hogi (next holiday will be in Kashmir).”
Speaking on the sidelines of the Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award ceremony 2025, Suniel said, “Kashmir was, is and will always be ours.”
Founder of Hotmail Sabeer Bhatia too joined the movement by stating, "#visitkashmir, Join the movement to support Kashmir tourism and show solidarity with this beautiful region. Together, we can defy fear and send a powerful message -- we will not let them win.”
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