Srinagar: Tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in large numbers this year to observe Christmas and New Year.
Tourists visited popular destinations in the UT which include Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg.
According to reports, tourist resorts were sold out even before the holiday started.
Nearly 26 lakh tourists visited Kashmir from January 1, 2022, to December 21, 2022. The highest grossing months were April (2.72 lakh), May (3.75 lakh) and June (3.33 lakh) while in lean months, there were 62,000 arrivals in January, one lakh arrivals in February and 1.05 lakh in December (up to December 21), reports Hindustan Times.
As Christmas and New Year came closer the number of tourists arriving in Kashmir swelled and the celebrations which commenced on Christmas eve ended with New Year festivities on December 31. As Kashmir teemed with tourists in the winter season, hotel owners announced special packages for gala dinners and other entertainment programmes. Due to COVID-19, not many foreign tourists visited Kashmir in 2020 and 2021 but in 2022 the restrictions were lifted which led to the arrival of foreigners in the Valley after a long time, the newspaper reported.
