Over 95 lakh domestic tourist visits to Jammu & Kashmir during Jan-June in 2025: Government data

Economic Times

2 days ago

The figures for domestic tourist visits to Jammu and Kashmir during January-June this year stood at more than 95 lakh, according to data shared by the government. Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared the data in a written response on Monday to a query on whether the Centre is aware of the decline in tourist footfall and business losses in Jammu and Kashmir during the peak tourist season following the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also asked if any assessment was made by the government on its economic impact on local tourism-dependent stakeholders. "No such assessment has been made by the Ministry of Tourism on economic impact on local tourism-dependent stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir," Shekhawat said.
The Pahalgam terror strike took place on April 22 in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists were brutally killed.
India avenged the killings with Operation Sindoor under which the armed forces early May 7 decimated multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK). A special discussion in the Lok Sabha on "India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor" began on Monday as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the military action against Pakistan had sent a clear message to supporters of terrorism that India was committed to defend its motherland. In his response, Shekhawat also shared year-wise tabulated data for domestic tourist visits (DTVs) and foreign tourist visits (FTVs) from 2020 to 2025. This data is provided by the state tourism department. Based on the latest information received from the Jammu and Kashmir tourism department, the number of DTVs and FTVs stood at 95,92,664 and 19,570 respectively for the period January-June of 2025. DTVs for preceding four years were -- 2,35,24,629 (for year 2024); 2,06,79,336 (2023); 1,84,99,332 (2022); 1,13,14,920 (2021) and 25,19,524 (2020). FTVs for preceding four years were -- 65,452 (for year 2024); 55,337 (2023); 19,985 (2022); 1,650 (2021) and 5,317 (2020, and for January-June period of 2025 it stood at 19,570. Shekhawat said the Ministry of Tourism has taken several steps or initiatives to promote tourism sector in the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir.
On April 23, the Union tourism minister had told reporters in Delhi that some people with nefarious intentions had tried to again "incite separatism and terrorism" in the Valley and asserted that his ministry would do the best to "minimise the dent" on tourism in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.