Houseboats In Dal, Nigeen Lakes Witness Massive Booking.

The houseboat owners in the Kashmir Valley are witnessing a huge tourist footfall reminding them about the golden period of 1970’s.

This year, 80 percent of the houseboats at Dal and Nigeen Lakes remained jam-packed easing the worries of houseboat owners who have been grappling to survive.

After the slump in tourist influx due to the Covid-19, the footfall of tourists recorded an increase in Jammu and Kashmir.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had on April 10 stated that J&K is its “golden period” of tourism as nearly 80 lakh tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in the past few months, breaking a 20-year-record.

Vice Chairman of Houseboat Owners Association Kashmir, Manzoor Ahmad Pakhtoon said that almost 80 percent of the houseboats remained occupied with the guests, who visited from different parts of the country and outside as well.

“Around 1600 rooms out of 2700 got booked by tourists at Dal and Nigeen Lake,” he said.

The houseboat owners were jubilant after witnessing the huge influx of tourists.

One of the houseboat owners, Tariq Ahmad told KNO that the huge rush of tourists could be witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir after the gap of many years.

“The government must help in modifying the houseboats as the tourists visiting here prefer modified houseboats with modern facilities. We should be allowed to modify the houseboats for the comfort of the tourists,” he said. (KNO)