It’s house(boat)full till Aug in Kashmir, govt eyes 1.5 mn arrivals

Residential houses have been turned into guest houses, tents have sprung up in the resorts of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, all available hotels and houseboats are booked for another three months, people can be seen searching for rooms till late into the evening, and airfares are thrice the normal rates. The stream of last year has become a rush in 2012 as tourists pour into Kashmir, promising to reach the 1.5 million annual mark tentatively set by the state government.

A jubilant Rauf Trumboo, the president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, says so far it has been "an excellent tourism season". "Our hotels are completely booked. There is a spillover now. Many of our clients are moving towards Himachal (Pradesh) as they are finding it difficult to get accommodation in the Valley at this point of time."

"It is the first time that even low-grade houseboats in the Jhelum are filled to capacity," says Abdul Rashid, a houseboat owner. "In some cases, more than three to four people are sharing a room."

While the Valley tourism season starts from April 15 and lasts generally till end of June, this year the hotels and houseboats are fully booked till August.

As dusk falls, there is a buzz of tourists on the Boulevard road along the banks of the Dal Lake. The Gujarati and Punjabi dhabas overflow with them as in the land of Wazwan, the aroma of masala dosa, pao baji and Gujarati thali fills the air. A few of them have little time to sit down and eat as they frantically move from one hotel to another looking for accommodation.

The two consecutive peaceful summers in the Valley have helped, as has the heat in the plains and the unexpectedly cool weather that has stretched here this time to June.

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