'Tourists from every corner of Kashmir are leaving': Fear grips Valley after Pahalgam terror attack 

Tourist vehicles are streaming out of Kashmir following a brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead, most of them visitors. The violence at Baisaran meadows, often dubbed 'mini Switzerland', has triggered mass cancellations, financial panic among local businesses, and a visible unraveling of what had been a record-setting year for tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, reacting to the exodus, said on X: "It’s heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests from the valley after yesterday's tragic terror attack in Pahalgam, but at the same time, we totally understand why people would want to leave." He said the administration has been directed to facilitate traffic along the Srinagar-Jammu route and confirmed that the DGCA and Civil Aviation Ministry were coordinating additional flights. 

The magnitude of the disruption is evident on social media. One X user wrote: “Tourists vehicles from every corner of Kashmir are leaving. Being tourism-dependent economy, and knowing 100’s of people who took loans either for renovation of hotels or tourist vehicles are left jeopardised. A friend of mine called in morning is on brink of suicide because he had recently renovated his hotel at 50 lacs loan and hotel is at rent of 1 crore, all tourists have left from hotel and booking have been cancelled and he was weeping and wailing. It was not only attack on innocent civilians but on bread and butter of our brethren, our economy, our livelihood as well."

PTI reported that Aijaz Ali, a travel operator in Srinagar, said, "We know tourists have by and large been safe in Kashmir but with such an incident happening here, one cannot expect them to stay back. The cancellations are massive, close to 80 per cent.” He added, “All the good work over the past several years has gone down the drain. It will take a lot of convincing to bring tourists again to Kashmir.”

The attack coincides with a year of record-breaking tourist arrivals. Omar Abdullah had recently told the Assembly that 2.35 crore tourists visited J&K in 2024, up from 2.11 crore in 2023. “The tourist arrivals in J&K have seen a significant increase in the last two years,” he noted. The tourism sector contributes about 7–8% to the region's Gross State Domestic Product.

The attack at Baisaran has shaken a region already balancing the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. In 2018, over 1.6 crore tourists had visited Jammu and Kashmir; the number has more than doubled since, reflecting the administration’s push to position tourism as a pillar of growth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi on Wednesday morning. Home Minister Amit Shah reached Srinagar Tuesday evening to take charge of the situation. The Prime Minister has vowed that those behind the attack “will not be spared and brought to justice.”