Economic Impact of Tourism in Jammu and Kashmir

Background/Objectives: Jammu and Kashmir State has a greater potential to become a major tourist destination in the world. The role of tourism in the economic development of J&K state has been an area of immense interest from policy perspective. To understand the economic impact of tourism in the J&K state, present paper tries to examine various parameters of economic development such as tourist inflow, employment generation, State Gross Domestic Product, development of infrastructure and regional development.

Methods/Statistical analysis: The study is based on secondary data. Data has been collected from various sources like Ministry of Tourism Government of India, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation and Directorate of Tourism, Annual Economic survey of J&K, United Nations World Tourism Organisation, World Travel and Tourism Council and other published research papers and official reports.

Findings: We found apart from agriculture sector, tourism sector is the most popular source of income and employment generation for the J&K state economy. The Year 2011 has made history in terms of surpassing all previous records of tourists and pilgrim arrivals in the state. Our analysis shows that except in 2008-09 when there was greater political instability in the state, the revenue earned from Director Tourism Kashmir/Jammu has shown a continuous increasing trend and has increased around three fold from 2006-07 (Rs 32.25 Lakh) to 2011-12 (Rs 93.3 lakh). Further the analysis of our data shows that there is a positive impact of tourist inflow on employment i.e. with the increase in tourist inflow, total employment also rises.