Daulat Rahman/Guwahati

With peace returning to Kashmir Valley, the tourists from the North Eastern region are once again flocking to the 'Paradise on Earth'.

According to a conservative estimate based on statistics provided by the tourism departments and private tour operators, nearly 25,000 tourists from Assam and other parts of the North East visited Kashmir in 2022.

In the last six months of 2023, the number of tourists from NE will be around 12,000 and the number is fast increasing. A tour operator said going by the present trend more than 30,000 tourists from NE will visit Kashmir in 2023.

“Since my childhood, I harboured the dream of visiting Kashmir. I became desperate to see the ‘Paradise on Earth’. But the prevailing situation in Kashmir due to insurgency in recent years had forced me to put a halt to my plan of visiting the valley. But peace, which is returning fast to Kashmir, particularly after abrogation of the Article 370, has finally made me land in Kashmir with my family in June this year. My dream became a reality and I visited most of the tourist spots in Kashmir,” Githartha Talukdar, a businessman from Guwahati said. 

Tourists from Northeast visiting the Tulip Garden of Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir received 1.88 crore tourists in 2022, a high enough number for any region. But the administration is confident that the arrivals will cross the two crore mark this year.

Binoy Das, a Guwahati-based professional event manager who is currently visiting Jammu & Kashmir with his family, said he feels out of the world after reaching the valley. On Tuesday (July 18) Binoy and his family visited Vaishno Devi temple, one of the most revered Hindu Pilgrimage sites in the country.

“We have plans to visit almost all tourist spots in Jammu & Kashmir. The valley is now completely peaceful and tourists are visiting places with a sense of security,” Binoy Das said.

Shaheen Akhtar who hails from Sivasagar in Eastern Assam has been visiting Kashmir once every 10 years.

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"This is my third trip to Kashmir. My first visit was in 2004 and then again in 2013. This time I am here with my whole family. Kashmir always attracts and you want to come again every time you leave this beautiful valley. The Almighty has created a paradise on this earth through Kashmir," Shaheen said.