Dr Bharti Gupta
On 25th January National Tourism Day is celebrated. This year’s theme is “Sustainable Journey and Timeless Memories”. This theme along with the two-news items published in the newspaper Daily Excelsior dated 28th December 2023 at page no. 3 on “CEO SMVDSB launches accommodation management system of pilgrims”; and on the same day another news at page 5 on “Katra observes shutdown against ropeway project, People take out strong protest march” have strongly prompted me to contemplate the current State of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir in the light of National Tourism Day’s overarching theme.

National Tourism Day

In 2023, Kashmir witnessed a staggering influx of two crore tourists, a notable achievement attributed to the positive outcomes of the Government’s efforts, particularly the Third Tourism Working Group (TWG) G20 meeting held post the abrogation of Article 370. It can be assumed that the flow chain of tourists coming to Kashmir is strongly linked to the pilgrims’ traffic coming to the Reasi district of Jammu division due to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine as Katra receives a huge influx of visitors annually and as the situation in Kashmir right now has changed and is peaceful in comparison to the earlier years of unrest, this makes people include Kashmir in their itinerary as part of their extended trip beyond Katra. Who will not desire to visit the highly promoted destinations of Kashmir that is just 257 Kms away from the core destination at Katra? Therefore, it can be said that a significant number of pilgrims get transformed into tourists once they make a decision choice for Kashmir. The trickle-down effect of the pilgrimage is positive not only economically but also diplomatically for Kashmir. However, the kind of unrest that surfaced in Katra and the kind of insecurity that has been expressed many times in media by the tourism trade and other tourism stakeholders of Jammu is a matter of immense concern that necessitates urgent attention from policymakers. Further, it is crucial for their decisions to align with the theme of National Tourism Day, emphasizing “Sustainable Journeys and Timeless Memories.”
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, managing Katra since 1986, has done tremendous development initiatives and has transformed the shrine by enhancing pilgrim facilities, accommodation infrastructure, and accessibility. Nevertheless, conflicting reports in the media indicate that challenges persist in the development process.
The development itself is a process of change that has certain associated goals too like meeting human survival needs (mainly food and shelter), the standard of living (education and health), and human rights (like social justice, political sovereignty). Tourism has been vigorously promoted for the economic benefits. However, lately, it has been realized that tourism could adversely impact the environment be it natural, socio-cultural, or economic. The tangible consequences of foot traffic, litter, congestion, excessive construction, and the negative effects of large-scale visitation on the natural environment, local cultures, and the well-being of residents raise concerns about the sustainability of tourism development. This prompts a reconsideration of tourism as a potential threat to sustainable development. There is an immense need to understand comprehensively the concept of sustainable development because at times it is mistakenly considered overly environment-oriented at the cost of the economic benefits. According to the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), 1987, Sustainable development is the process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.
It is important to understand that sustainable development is not against economic development. It is because sustainable development requires economic growth as a weapon in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment. Further, it is also important to underscore that sustainable tourism development is a relationship that exists between the three components of the tourism operation system namely tourists, the host community, and the destination environment. The relationship among these is called for harmonious or balanced only if the tourists’ experiences are satisfying, there is overall well-being for the host community, and the overall quality of the natural environment is maintained.
It is imperative to put a limit to the development based on the carrying capacity of the site otherwise the site suffers from the issues related to over-development. Over development, witnessed in Katra’s fragile ecosystem, requires regulation to prevent the degradation of natural resources. There is an urgent need to understand that the whooping figures of pilgrims’ arrival are good only within the limits of the carrying capacity. However, as the limits being not respected, it has become a matter of concern. This is particularly because it is the over-development that is attributed to the downgrading of the quality of the natural environment for instance in the case of water resources all the sewerage has been let in the Banganga; due to the crowd at the base camp, and at the Bhawan, the quality of experience of the pilgrims also gets adversely affected. For instance, at its worst, an over-crowd on Ist January 2022 attributed to a stampede that took a toll of 12 pilgrims. The recent unrest as published in the newspaper, gives clear indicators of the adverse impacts on the local community due to the failure of diffusion of the benefits and apprehensions related to the loss of opportunities to the locals due to the new infrastructural additions and restructuring of the pilgrims’ flow chain. Therefore, it can be said that the pilgrimage destination of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi is facing challenges related to sustainability at all three important components – destination environment, tourists (pilgrims), and host community.
To comprehend the situation related to Katra, we must scrutinize the development approach adopted at the site. While different sustainable development positions exist, the ongoing development in Katra seems to align with either a tourism-centric or product-centric approach. The tourism centric approach is “sustainable development through a tourism imperative”. This is a very weak position, heavily skewed towards the fostering as well as the development of tourism, mainly concerned with satisfying the needs and desires of tourists and tourist operators. The second product-centric approach is “sustainable Development through Product led Tourism”. This is a weak position of sustainable development where the environmental side of the tourism system of destination may well receive consideration but is secondary to the primary need to develop new and maintain existing tourism products.
To participate in the Sustainable Tourism Development and aligning with the national theme of the year, it is urgent to follow the principle of Sustainable Development through Environment-led Tourism. In addition, sustainable development strongly suggests that the involvement of the local community in the development process, the bottom-up approach is a pre-requisite for sustainability. Therefore, every decision needs to be made considering the well-being of the locals and keeping in mind the locals’ prosperity. If this is not being done then it is unfortunate that it becomes the case of neo-colonialism in its new form wherein the use of economic, political, or other pressures control or influence places by subjugating the interests of the residents.
Further, there is an urgent need to address the fears and insecurity of the tourism stakeholders of Jammu which have been escalated due to the direct trains to Katra bypassing Jammu with only a two-minute halt at Jammu railway station. The worries are not unfounded but are genuine as this will consequently impact the visitors’ flow chain that has been right now appreciated from Katra to Kashmir. There is a need to adopt the diffusionist paradigm, one of the approaches to development. According to this paradigm, development needs to be diffused or spread out from the development core towards the peripheral areas.
The pre-requisites for diffusion include innovation, promotion, and accessibility. These are the three important factors that need to be focussed upon to spread the economic benefits of pilgrims’ influx from Katra to Jammu. Under innovation, there is a need to have creative ideas and investment initiatives in Jammu along with the mass media-based promotion of the new attractions and already existing places of Jammu. Fulfilling the accessibility need is paramount as this is one of the important components for the tourism development of a place. Without it, Jammu cannot reap the benefits of the heavy influx of visitors coming to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The direct train to Katra, no significant attractions or investments that should reap benefits to local tourism stakeholders, without the significant presence of Jammu in the route map of the important trains like Vande Bharat shall consequently lead to loss of Jammu from the mindscape of the visitors as a place to set feet upon relates to the genuine economic loss to the tourism-based enterprises of Jammu, therefore, affecting adversely the wellbeing of the Jammu community. This, therefore, defeats the Sustainable Journeys and Timeless Memories as embedded in the national theme for the year 2024. For Sustainable Journeys and Timeless Memories, it is essential to prioritize sustainable tourism development, ensuring benefits are shared among all stakeholders and regions. This requires a holistic approach that considers the environment, tourists, and host communities for a truly sustainable and inclusive tourism model.
(The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu)

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