Pahalgam Terror Attack Aftermath: Tourists cancel hotel & flight bookings

Air India operating two additional flights from Srinagar to Delhi and Mumbai today.

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, APRIL 23 (STC): In the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack, which left at least 26 tourists dead and many injured, people who had planned their trips to Jammu and Kashmir in the near future have been calling their travel agents to cancel hotel and flight bookings, says an Indian Express (IE) report.
Quoting a travel agent, who operates his unit at Connaught Place, the report says that all tours scheduled for the next 10 days have been cancelled.
“At this time of the year, most bookings are from northern states, Gujarat and West Bengal. With such an attack happening, panic spreads among people. All of them have called and cancelled their hotel and other bookings,” the tour operator said.
“All the people who were planning to travel by road have cancelled their trips. Some people who were going by air called to cancel tickets, others must be trying to cancel online,” the tour operator added.
The IE report states that he had arranged close to 20 tours this past week. Next week was supposed to be better with around 30 tours arranged, all of which stand cancelled now.

“Almost all tours scheduled in April have been cancelled. Sabke phone aa rahe hai ki cancel kar do (Everyone is calling to cancel their bookings),” another tour operator said, whose agency gets bookings from across the country, said.

“For us, May and the first week of June is the busiest time. Over the past four years, the number of tourists going to Kashmir increased and we have been handling up to 40 tourists per day in mid-May. There is a lot of panic now. I don’t think we will have more than a handful of tourists this year,” says yet another tour operator.
Notably, Air India issued a travel advisory announcing that the airline will be operating two additional flights from Srinagar to Delhi and Mumbai today. “All our other flights to and from Srinagar will continue to operate as per schedule. Air India is also offering complimentary rescheduling and full refunds on cancellations to passengers with confirmed bookings till 30th April 2025 on these sectors,” mentions the post of Air India on X platform. (STC)