A total of 1,004,529 tourists,including about 23,000 foreigners,have visited Kashmir so far this year,according to official records. We have been waiting for this day for eight years, said Tramboo,the president of the Kashmirs Travel Agents Association. We had an excellent season. Our hotels are booked till October 25. In the past six years,the Valley saw brisk tourist arrival in the first months of the tourist season,but militant attacks,protests,shutdowns and government curfews played spoilsport. Though a peaceful summer has played a big role in luring tourists,the state governments efforts,in a departure from its past practice,to delink tourism from normalcy has also helped.
