Srinagar, Oct 23: With Kashmir looking to attract tourists beyond the peak summer months, the Valley’s chrysanthemum garden opened to the public on Friday, adding a new floral attraction to the autumn tourism calendar.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated Bagh-e-Gule-Dawood, located within the Nehru Memorial Botanical Garden at the foothills of the Zabarwan range. Spread over five hectares, the garden has more than 3.5 lakh chrysanthemum plants, with officials expecting over 12 million blooms.
The flowers are expected to remain in bloom for nearly two months, offering visitors an extended window to explore the garden during a season when tourist arrivals traditionally tend to be lower than in the peak summer months.
More than one lakh people visited the garden last year, when it was opened to the public for the first time, said Mathoora Masoom, Director of Floriculture, Gardens and Parks.
She said the department had received numerous calls from people enquiring about the attraction ahead of this year’s opening.
The garden is part of the administration’s efforts to position Kashmir as a year-round tourist destination, with a focus on developing attractions that can bring visitors to the Valley outside its conventional peak season.
The initiative follows the success of the region’s tulip garden, established in 2007 when Ghulam Nabi Azad was chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Developed with tulip bulbs imported from the Netherlands, the garden was intended to attract tourists at the beginning of spring and give an early start to the tourism season.
“The tulips bloom in March. The idea was to start Kashmir’s tourism season early,” an official said.
While the tulip garden has become a prominent attraction in spring, Bagh-e-Gule-Dawood is expected to serve a similar purpose in autumn, when the Valley’s changing foliage and colourful landscapes draw visitors.
Officials said the two gardens could help spread tourist arrivals across a longer period of the year, rather than concentrating them in a few peak months. The move is also expected to benefit tourism-dependent businesses by creating additional reasons for visitors to plan trips during the off-season.
The administration is hoping that the chrysanthemum garden will attract both tourists and local residents, adding another destination to Kashmir’s autumn itinerary.
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