Valley opens its houses for tourists With hotels, guesthouses packed (Written by:Shafat Farooq Kashmir Monitor) =>With the increasing rush of tourists to the Valley, the families living around tourist areas are turning their residential houses into guest houses. The practice of converting the residential houses into guest houses has increased substantially, particularly around Dal Lake. The rush of the tourists to the valley can be gauged from the fact that almost all of the hotels and guest houses of the Srinagar city have been booked in advance by the tourists and travel agents. “Almost all the residential houses on the peripheries of the Dal Lake and Sonwar and Khayam are full with tourists. Families are also renting out their rooms to tourists,” said Deputy Director Tourism, Azmat Ali. He said comparing to last year, the tourist rush has increased manifold this year. Stating that tourism department will continue to encourage people who have turned their homes into guest houses Azmat said the tourism department has introduced ‘Conversion of residential houses into guest houses’ scheme which will facilitate these private owners to fully change their homes into guest houses. “This scheme provides a sum of Rs 2lacs to the people who are willing to work with the tourism department. After proper counselling and verification the department gives the amateur hoteliers this sum,” Azmat informed. A good number of unemployed youth have also got employment in these guest houses. The number of guest houses has increased over the years easing the pressure on hotels. The Department of Tourism Kashmir is continuously registering and monitoring these houses which host tourists. Muhammad Omar of Dalgate has also rented his house to the tourists. He says it fetches him a good amount of money to support financial needs of his family for the rest of year besides showing the culture of Kashmir to the outsiders. Many tourists prefer to put up at these guest houses as they are easily available and economically feasible. “One of our friends from Srinagar recommended us to stay at residential houses around the Dal Lake. The accommodation is good and economical also for us,” said Asgar a tourist from Gujarat who along with his family are staying in a guest house near Dalgate. “There is a good rush of tourists. This season has been a good one compared to the last two decades. Most of the hotels and houseboats are booked,” said Mudassir who owns a guest house ‘Baghban’ in Dalgate. Official sources said the improving ground situation in the valley since Gurus execution has paved the way for increasing rush of the tourists in the valley and over 3 lakh have visited the valley since January this year.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 04:32:19 +0000
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