By Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar (NVI): Figures released by the Jammu and Kashmir tourism department state that more than 26,000 foreign tourists visited the Union Territory in 2019. This was despite political and social upheaval in the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.
The data released by J&K tourism department says that 26,662 foreign tourists visited Kashmir from January to November 2019.
Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Indonesia constituted more than 90 per cent of foreign arrivals with as many as 19758 tourists visiting Kashmir last year.
The data also reveals that Malaysians were the leading foreign visitors that landed in the valley last year. Till November 2019, 9822 backpackers from Malaysia visited the valley.
In August, when Centre issued a travel advisory and abrogated Article 370, the arrival of Malaysian tourists dipped to 126.
However, their number shot up to 460 in November. In January 2019, 609 Malaysian tourists visited Kashmir and the number rose to 3145 in April.
Similarly, 4572 tourists from Thailand travelled to Kashmir till November last year. The highest number of arrivals was also recorded in April when 2288 backpackers visited Kashmir.
Likewise, 2918 and 2446 tourists from Indonesia and Bangladesh respectively visited the valley till November last year.
More than 706 tourists from Singapore, 731 from the USA, 575 from Britain and 543 from China also visited the valley last year.
The data shows that 326 Israeli and 66 Iranian travellers too arrived in Kashmir last year.
Tourists from conflict-torn nations including Syria, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq also visited the valley last year.
The highest number of arrivals last year was recorded in April when 7700 foreigners visited the valley. In March, 6053 foreigners visited Kashmir. Amid rising tension between Indian and Pakistan in February after Balakote strike, 4077 foreigners visited the valley.
The lowest number of foreign arrivals last year was witnessed in September, a month after the abrogation of article 370 as only 584 foreigners visited Kashmir.
According to an official statement of the Tourism department, tourists from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh are on their priority list this year too.
“We have a huge list of promotions with special focus on luring tourists from these countries,” it added.
