Srinagar, With the beginning of the tourist season, the booking of hotels, houseboats and lodges is going on at an unprecedented rate. Following the opening of the Tulip Garden here, the tourist season has already begun and a large number of tourists have visited Kashmir.
“The Tulip Garden has turned out to be a big hit with the tourists. Since its opening last month the occupancy rate in the hotels and houseboats have increased at a remarkable rate,” said an official of the state Tourism Department.
People associated with the hotel industry here say the occupancy rate in the hotels here has touched around 70 per cent as compared to 40 per cent in the corresponding period last year. “With the rise in temperature in the plains, we expect the inflow of tourists to increase,” said Mohammad Sultan, owner of a hotel on the Boulevard road. The state government has also asked the hotel and houseboat operators to provide “best” services to the tourists, failing which their licences can be cancelled.
The tourists, who have already arrived in the Kashmir valley, are also enjoying their stay here as they say that they “love to be here”. “Its really beautiful here. This is for the first time we are here and now we are planning to extend our stay,” said a newly wed couple from West Bengal. The local tour operators say they have been getting enquiry calls from people from various parts of the country who want to visit the valley during summer and a large number of them have already booked accommodation here.
“Some of the hotels are already booked for the season. We expect this season to be a good one,” said Hamid, another tour operator. Tariq Ahmed Ahngar, who purchased a new taxi recently after taking a loan from a bank, is hopeful that this season “he will be able to pay instalments”.
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