How Pahalgam terror attack grounded Kashmir’s rising tourism tide - ‘they did not just kill people’

Pahalgam Terror Attack: Javed Ahmad was busy with bookings at his 20-room hotel in Pahalgam until April 21. His routine, however, took a fateful turn on April 22 when terrorists struck in nearby Baisaran meadow, killing 26 people, mostly tourists.

“I have been refunding money since then to those who had rooms booked in our hotel,” Javed told LiveMint on the phone from Pahalgam on April 26. 

Javed runs a hotel in Pahalgam hill resort on the picturesque road to Chandanwari – about 10 kilometres from Baisaran.

Javed's hotel was booled to capacity till May. Not any more. "We usually take 25 per cent of the cost in advance. I have to reimburse about ₹4 lakh for May,” he said.

The Pahalgam terror attack last week didn’t just kill people, but will cast a long-term shadow on Tourism, say hoteliers. Tourism is not the mainstay, but one of the contributors to Jammu and Kashmir’s economy. Never before have so many tourists been killed in a single attack in Kashmir’s violent past.

13 Lakh Bookings Cancelled

The Pahalgam terror attack triggered widespread cancellations by tourists, affecting advance bookings. At least 13 lakh bookings scheduled in August have been cancelled across the valley, Babar Chaudhary, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Hotels and Restaurants Association, told the media in Srinagar.

The association represents around 240 hotels and restaurants. From April to August, over 25 lakh tourists usually visit Kashmir. This year, at least 90 per cent of them won’t come because of the fear, Chaudhary said.

Until August, around 13 lakh tourists – including those from abroad – had made advance bookings to visit the Valley and stay in local hotels and guest houses. But after the April 22 terror attack, tourists began cancelling their bookings.

The spring season had just started in Kashmir. The Tulip Garden in Srinagar had attracted 8.5 lakh visitors within 26 days of its opening till the attack was carried out. Tour operators say they were gearing up for the summer season to ensure a comfortable stay for tourists.

“They did not just kill people. They snatched out livelihood that started picking up in the last few years,” said a tour operator who did not want to be named.

Upto 90 per cent of travel bookings to the hilly state have been cancelled owing to safety concerns, news agency PTI reported on April 23, citing Delhi-based travel agencies.

A survey conducted by LocalCircles revealed that 62 per cent of families who had travel or pilgrimage bookings to Kashmir between May and December 2025 are now cancelling their plans in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

“I used to get 4-5 rides on Dal Lake these days. I would earn 1000-1200 rupees for each ride. That is over for now,” Fayaz Ahmad Shagoo, a shikara owner said on phone from Srinagar. About 1000 shikaras, or boats operate on Dal Lake daily, mainly in the summer.

Terrorists want to destroy Kashmir: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched upon the Pahalgam terror attack on his Mann Ki Baat radio show on Sunday, April 27.

"At a time when peace was returning to Kashmir, schools and colleges were vibrant, democracy was getting strengthened, there was a rise in tourism, and new opportunities were being generated for the youth, but the enemies of Jammu and Kashmir and the country did not like this. Terrorists want to destroy Kashmir once again," he said on the radio show.

The Pahalgam terror attack was carried out on a day when United States Vice President JD Vance was in India and Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia.

Rising Tide of Tourism

Hotels and restaurants across Kashmir Valley, houseboats and boats (shikaras) on the pristine Dal Lake, ponies in striking hilly terrains, taxis on the plains, and arts and craft businesses in markets and outside fabled Mughal gardens depend on tourism in Kashmir. In recent times, Kashmir has also begun hosting tourism and cultural events, giving a boost to the event management industry.

According to Jammu and Kashmir's Department of Tourism, the total number of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 was approximately 35 lakh, a rise from 27 lakh in 2023 and 26 lakh in 2022. About 5 lakh tourists visited the region in the first three months of 2025.

Tourism numbers had started growing in Kashmir in past few years with the perceived decline in terror-related incidents and subsequent rise in tourism footfall, especially after August 2019, when Kashmir's Article 370 was abrogated and erstwhile state bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

‘Businesses are finished’

LiveMint spoke with hoteliers, taxi drivers, shikara riders, businessmen, event managers, and houseboat owners. Everyone had a common grudge:

‘Tourism hez moklouv,’ which translates to ‘tourism is finished’ in Kashmir in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

“There is sudden inactivity. Kaar gov khatam, bakhoda (Our trade is finished. I swear by God),” said a Kashmiri businessman who runs an artisan shop on Poloview, the fabled market in Kashmir’s Lal Chowk, speaking of uncertainty in the days to come.

Kashmir has also been catching up as a favourite wedding destination for many in the recent past. That has also been impacted, now.

“We had a wedding of a Gujarati businessman from Mumbai based in Dubai booked for mid May. The wedding was scheduled at the venue overlooking Dal Lake in Srinagar and would cost around ₹1.5 Crore. I was expecting an advance when the attack happened. But the wedding is not happening in Srinagar now,” *Basid Nazeer who works for an event management firm in Srinagar said.

Some reports say that tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir accounts for at least 8 per cent of the Union Territory’s GDP. But Kasshmir-based economists say it's little less than that, yet acknowledging that the attack will impact the investment prospects in the Valley. 

While tourism is not considered as a separate entity while calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the impact on hotel industry is an element, say experts. Kashmir Valley has about 4000 hotels.

Tourism and J-K Economy

The Union Territory’s GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) had grown 7.06 per cent in 2024-25 and 7.08 per cent in 2023-24, according to Jammu and Kashmir’s economic survey of 2024-25. 

“We know hotel industry contributes about ₹2,700 crore to Kashmir’s economy annually. Assuming multiplier affect at four times, we may assume tourism contributes ₹10,000 Crore in the UT’s economy. This is about 5 per cent of total GSDP estimated at ₹2.65 lakh crore,” Ejaz Ayoub, a Srinagar-based economist, told LiveMint.

"When tourism increases, it sends a sense of positivity and attracts investment which will be impacted, for sure,” he said, adding that the damage will have a cascading affect on tax collection of a form of indirect tax called Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The UT government, under the Lieutenant-Governor, released a tourism policy in 2020, which aimed to generate employment for approximately 50,000 people each year and attract an average investment target of ₹2,000 crore per year for the next five years.

The UT, got an elected government under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in 2024. In the first Budget speech as CM, Abdullah had said that his government’s goal was to “increase tourism’s contribution to the GSDP from 7 per cent to at least 15 per cent over the next four to five years.”

The target, however, looks uncertain, at least for now.

In these uncertain times, Javed saw the first signs of hope of tourism revival when he welcomed a group of 10 foreign tourists to his hotel on April 26. 

“I hope it picks up,” he told LiveMint.

(*Some names have been changed on request)