SRIINAGAR: A tourist could not believe her eyes when a Kashmiri walked in and handed over a costly iPhone that she had misplaced on New Year in Gulmarg. Impressed by the gesture, she took to social media to publicly thank Kashmiris for their honesty.
Just a few months back, a hotelier from Pahalgam drove 70 kilometers to return Rs 19,700 to a tourist who had forgotten cash at his room while checking out.
These are not isolated cases. Paradise on earth is not only enamoring tourists with its beauty but the honesty of the hosts is making it a friendlier place in the country and abroad.
Tourism honchos are using this as a handle to sell Kashmir as one of the safest and most honest places on earth.
“Whenever tourists face difficulty, people go out of their way to help them. There have been several occasions when tourists had problems and people came forward to help. There have been instances when some tourists misplaced bags and people went out of their way to find them,” Sarmad Hafiz, Secretary, Tourism, told The Kashmir Monitor.
The icing on the cake is that there has been zero crime against tourists in Kashmir. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report revealed that J&K has registered zero cases of crime against foreigners in 2021. “There was no case of violence, sexual assault, rape, forgery, theft, and cheating reported from Jammu and Kashmir against the foreigners who visited the region in 2021,” the report said.
“There is no crime against tourists. We are the best place in the country. Generally, tourists’ response has been positive. Tourists are now saying that they do not want to be one-time visitors but repeated visitors to Kashmir. It is a very positive sign,” said Sarmad.
In fact, 2022 has been a golden year for Kashmir tourism. . More than 2.2 million tourists including Amarnath Yatris visited Kashmir last year. It is for the first time that tourists have arrived in all four seasons in Kashmir. Earlier bulk of the tourists was visiting during summer to beat the heat. This year, tourists visited in spring, autumn, and winter too.
“Our hospitality is unparalleled. People are realizing that we are stakeholders in tourism. They are keeping the traditions of hospitality alive and taking care of guests. Plus we have friendly tourist police who always rise to the occasion to help our guests,” said Sarmad.
