Srinagar, Sep 3: More than 4.3 lakh tourists have visited border areas along the Line of Control in north Kashmir during the first eight months of the year, highlighting a significant shift in the tourism profile of regions once largely associated with cross-border firing and security restrictions.
Official figures from Bandipora, Kupwara and Uri show that destinations including Keran, Lolab, Machil, Teetwal, Tangdhar, Gurez, Tulail and Uri have attracted more than 4.30 lakh visitors this year.
Kupwara has recorded the largest share, with around three lakh tourist visits, while Uri registered nearly 70,000 and Gurez around 60,000.
The growing tourist movement has provided a new economic opportunity for communities living along the border, where tourism-related activity has expanded through homestays, local transport, food services and other visitor-oriented businesses.
The change has followed a sustained period of relative calm along the Line of Control after the reaffirmation of the India-Pakistan ceasefire in February 2021, which significantly reduced the frequency of cross-border firing in these areas.
For communities that spent years living under the threat of shelling, the growing arrival of visitors represents a marked change in the way these border landscapes are being experienced and marketed.
The emerging tourism circuit is also widening the Valley’s traditional tourist map beyond destinations such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, bringing remote border settlements into greater economic and public attention. – [KNT]
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