Rub your eyes

TOURISM: Is it for real, this time round "" the revival of Kashmir valley's tourism business? Read on

Look, and look again. But discreetly, please. It's only for the dreamy to know: India's own "Paradise on Earth", the Kashmir valley, is back as a holiday spot.

According to Aziz Wani, managing director of Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC), the valley got 6 lakh tourists in 2005, and as word-of-mouth and pictures of houseboat happiness get around, this figure is set to touch 10 lakh this year.

To put that figure in perspective, a mere 20,000 tourists visited the valley in 2003.

Tour operators, hoteliers and houseboat owners are understandably excited by the oncoming tourist season. A welcome sign of change is the introduction of flights by many new airlines. There are currently as many as 10 flights a day by Jet Airways, Indian, SpiceJet, Air Sahara, Air Deccan and most recently by GoAir.

Abhijeet Patil, CEO, Raja Rani Travels, a large Kashmir tour operator, is palpably upbeat on his business prospects this summer "" a reason that "we pushed GoAir to launch twice a week flights to Srinagar from Mumbai" on the assurance of "150 seats on every flight". Raja Rani is doing 10 tours, totalling 400-500 passengers, every week.

Firoz Khan, chairman of the J&K chapter of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India, is expecting an overall increase of 20-25 per cent in business this summer. Visits to Srinagar typically include day trips to Pahalgam and Gulmarg, so the operators' role isn't just confined to getting people in and out of the valley. State-wise, Maharashtra is India's largest generator of traffic to Kashmir, followed by West Bengal and Gujarat.

While the Grand Palace InterContinental in Srinagar is witnessing high occupancy, the real buoyancy is in the long-dormant houseboat business. The main lake, Dal, boasts of some 1,200 houseboats, offering around 3,000 rooms in all "" in a range of price brackets.

Azim Tuman, chairman of the Houseboats Owners Association, expects full occupancy to rise to a nice 120 days this season, up from the 90-odd days average that houseboats have had to content themselves with.

The lake had around 3,000 houseboats in 1947, and if business begins throbbing the way it once did, says Tuman wistfully, Dal could go back to peak capacity. It may be a worthwhile investment.

Though a new houseboat that would've cost Rs 2 lakh in 1980 now takes over Rs 2 crore to make (timber cost having soared), luxury rooms could attract tourists willing to pay premium five-star rates.

Whether that happens could depend on how safe tourists feel visiting Kashmir.

But then, perceptions tend to lag ground conditions. "With the relaxation of negative travel advisories, we have started getting more international tourists," says Tuman. A European delegation, adds Khan, has promised a change in safety rating soon. "If that happens," he says, "Europeans will be able to get insurance cover to travel to Kashmir, without which they generally don't travel."

The big hope, though, is domestic traffic. In Delhi, last year's holidayers are still raving about the bumper deals they got simply because others were too scared to avail of the offers. Word is out that the gentle santoor is the loudest sound you hear in the valley nowadays.

Once a "tipping point" is reached, holidayers long-denied this most ravishing of experiences might just land in swarms.

That would leave everyone rubbing their eyes to see if they're not dreaming.