SRINAGAR, DEC 25: All efforts to woo winter tourists in Kashmir during the last week of the year have nearly failed. Wrapped in the heavy blanket of fog and braving sub-zero temperatures, the pristine beauty of Srinagar and lush green meadows of Gulmarg await first flake of snow. So is the unending wait for elusive tourists.Hotels are virtually empty, restaurants have downed their shutters and house boats (in Srinagar) resting idly in nearly frozen waters of Dal and Jhelum.Attempts by a five star hotel to celebrate New Year in Srinagar has evoked very lukewarm response. Locals are keeping themselves away from any festivity owing to the month of Ramzan. The Grand Palace Hotel, the only place to organise New Year eve programme (for couples only), is not particularly enthusiastic with the response."We have firm bookings of 30 couples from New Delhi for the New Year eve celebration, but so far there is not much response from locals," concurred an official.A senior official of the Tourism departmenttold The Indian Express that there was an ambitious scheme to bring tourists, both Indians and foreigners to the valley during the winter season."The most saleable site we have here is Gulmarg, but this year we are not expecting `enough number' of people," he said."Although, situation has vastly improved over the years, uninterrupted flow of information about the encounters with militants, killings and blasts in cities and towns further erode confidence of prospective tourists," said Abdul Hamid, a house boat owner.Kashmiris equally miss all those revelry on New Year eve of those pre-militancy days. An old-timer, Javed, reminisced that there used to be lot of fun in Srinagar and Gulmarg."Hotel Oberoi's discotheque and Broadway's bar and restaurant used to be the favourite jaunt for the merry makers. Gulmarg used to be the choice for people with deep pockets, where snow-covered meadows were major attractions," he said.The official said that this year tourists' influx was more than lastyears, hence there was a general feeling that winter season, beginning with X-mas day will be certainly better than previous year.The spirit of festivity during this week has also been further dampened by several restrictions by fundamentalist organisations. Throughout the month of Ramzan (ending possibly on January 19, 1999), all cable operators will keep off air channels like MTV, Star Plus & Star movies, Music Asia and local movie channel. The people of the valley are allowed to watch only DD channels and Pak TV, which heavily televise religious as well as anti-India propaganda programmes during this month.``We have voluntarily decided to stop beaming music and movie channels during this holy month. Last time (in September) when the ban was imposed, we (cable operators) had promised to the Hurriyat not to dish out channels which tell on the morality of the people.A hotelier in Gulmarg said that he had spent a substantial amount of money in repair work and interior decoration of his hotel, hopingto reap rich harvest during this winter, but so far he has received only three bookings from Jammu and Chandigarh. Another hotelier lamented that the State government has been unable to effectively convince Indian and foreign tourists that there is a security risk involved in coming to the valley.
