Srinagar – More than 7.6 crore tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir since 2020, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. The figure includes over 7.65 crore domestic tourists and 1.47 lakh foreign visitors, according to data shared by Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat during the ongoing Monsoon Session.
Responding to a question, the minister said that between 2020 and 2024, a total of 7,66,85,482 tourists visited the Union Territory. This includes 76,537,741 Indian tourists and 147,741 foreign nationals.
The numbers show a sharp rise in tourist arrivals year after year. In 2020, the region saw 25.19 lakh domestic and 5,317 foreign tourists. In 2021, domestic arrivals surged to 1.13 crore, while foreign arrivals dropped to 1,650. The upward trend continued in subsequent years:
- 2022: 1.84 crore domestic, 19,985 foreign
- 2023: 2.06 crore domestic, 55,337 foreign
- 2024: 2.35 crore domestic, 65,452 foreign
On tourism infrastructure, Shekhawat said six projects worth Rs 519.58 crore were sanctioned under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2016–17. These projects—spanning areas such as Jammu, Srinagar, Pahalgam, Leh, and Kargil—have been completed.
Key developments include tourist circuits, reconstruction of flood-damaged assets under the PM Development Package, and new facilities at sites like Mantalai, Anantnag, Zanskar Padum, and Ranjit Sagar Dam.
However, the ministry clarified that no formal study has yet been undertaken to assess how much direct or indirect employment has been generated by the tourism boom in recent years.
