Kashmir Tourism Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

124 Kashmir Tourism Statistics for 2026

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir recorded 17,728,980 domestic and 36,410 foreign tourist visits in 2025, on the Ministry of Tourism's count. Most are counted in the Jammu division, home of the Vaishno Devi shrine. The Kashmir division, which covers the Kashmir Valley with Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, recorded 1,116,043.

This page gathers the official figures in one place: visits by region and year, pilgrims, foreign markets, flights, trains, hotels and houseboats, sights, events, the economy, safety and the weather. The figures come from Indian central government bodies and from the Union Territory government's own statistics. Every number links to the document that carries it, with the date.

Two things need care. Visits are counted at each place, so one traveller can count more than once. And the official series differ on whether Amarnath Yatra pilgrims are included, so each figure says which basis it uses, and years on different bases are not compared.

Headline figures

How many tourists visit Jammu and Kashmir each year?

Jammu and Kashmir counts tens of millions of tourist visits a year, most of them in the Jammu division. Three official counts exist for 2024, and they differ mainly on whether Amarnath pilgrims are included. The 2025 total is lower than 2024 on either basis.

5,317 2020 1,650 2021 19,985 2022 55,337 2023 65,452 2024
View data table
Foreign tourist visits to Jammu and Kashmir, 2020 to 2024, on the Tourism Department's count. Foreign visits are not affected by how pilgrims are counted.
PeriodValue
20205,317
20211,650
202219,985
202355,337
202465,452
Foreign tourist visits to Jammu and Kashmir, 2020 to 2024, on the Tourism Department's count. Foreign visits are not affected by how pilgrims are counted. (Ministry of Tourism (Lok Sabha reply, 21 Jul 2025), Jul 2025)

Tourist visits count a person at each place visited, so they are not unique visitors. The Ministry's 2024 count leaves out Amarnath pilgrims; the Tourism Department's count and the Economic Survey total include them, so the three 2024 figures are not compared with each other. The Ministry's 2025 figure matches the UT Economic Survey's 2025 total, which is larger than its Jammu and Kashmir division figures combined; the Survey does not say what the difference covers, so the 2025 total is not set against any 2024 figure as a percentage. For 2020, the UT's Digest of Statistics gives 3,470,800 domestic visits (34.708 lakh), against 2,519,524 in the parliamentary reply; both credit the Tourism Department.

How many tourists visit the Kashmir Valley?

The Kashmir division, which covers the Valley, gets far fewer visits than the Jammu division. Its count for 2025 is well below 2024 whether or not the 2024 figure includes Amarnath pilgrims.

28.95k 2015 24.52k 2016 31.70k 2017 56.03k 2018 33.78k 2019 3.90k 2020 1.61k 2021 19.95k 2022 37.68k 2023 43.65k 2024
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Foreign tourists to the Kashmir Valley, 2015 to 2024, in thousands. 2018 is the highest year in this run.
PeriodValue
201528.95k
201624.52k
201731.70k
201856.03k
201933.78k
20203.90k
20211.61k
202219.95k
202337.68k
202443.65k
Foreign tourists to the Kashmir Valley, 2015 to 2024, in thousands. 2018 is the highest year in this run. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Counting Amarnath pilgrims, the Kashmir division had 3,498,702 visits in 2024, of which 3,455,048 were domestic. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • Without Amarnath pilgrims, the Valley counted 2,986,780 tourists in 2024 (2,986.78 thousand), of whom 2,943,130 were Indian. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • In 2020 and 2021, when no Amarnath Yatra was held, the Valley counted 41,270 and 665,780 tourists. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • In 2025 the Kashmir division recorded 1,093,050 domestic and 22,993 foreign visits. Foreign visits were down from 43,654 in 2024, about 47% fewer (our calculation), but still more than went to the Jammu division. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)

Kashmir division and Kashmir Valley figures are the Tourism Department's, published by the UT's Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The 2024 figures with and without pilgrims are the same visits on two bases. Earlier Valley totals are not on a clearly stated basis, so they are not compared with 2024; foreign visits are not affected. Rows before 2019 come from the former State of Jammu and Kashmir; the Valley districts are the same.

What happened to tourism in Jammu and Kashmir in 2025?

Most official counts for 2025 are lower than for 2024: tourist visits, flights into Srinagar and pilgrims at Vaishno Devi. The UT's Economic Survey links lower hotel and restaurant output to "reduced activity in tourism-linked services following a recent untoward incident in the Union Territory, which led to lower tourist inflows".

1.01% 2023-24 1.02% 2024-25 0.71% 2025-26 (AE)
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Hotels and restaurants as a share of the UT's gross value added, with 2025-26 an advance estimate.
PeriodValue
2023-241.01%
2024-251.02%
2025-26 (AE)0.71%
Hotels and restaurants as a share of the UT's gross value added, with 2025-26 an advance estimate. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • In a reply to Parliament on tourism after the Pahalgam attack, the Ministry gave 9,592,664 domestic and 19,570 foreign tourist visits for January to June 2025, from the UT Tourism Department. The same reply said the Ministry had made no assessment of the economic impact on local tourism-dependent stakeholders. (Ministry of Tourism (Lok Sabha reply, 28 Jul 2025), Jul 2025)
  • Srinagar airport handled 161,214 passengers in May 2025, 67.1% fewer than the 489,561 of May 2024. (AAI, Jun 2025)
  • In June 2025 it handled 238,375 passengers, 49.1% fewer than the 468,283 of June 2024. (AAI, Jul 2025)
  • The Shrine Board counted 413,365 Vaishno Devi yatris in May 2025, against 1,164,301 in May 2024, and 185,165 in September 2025, against 678,487 a year earlier. (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Oct 2026)
  • Hotels and restaurants gross value added is estimated to fall 24.69% in 2025-26, cutting the sub-sector's share of the UT economy from 1.02% to 0.71% (advance estimates). (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • GST revenue to November 2025 was Rs 5,379 crore (Rs 53.79 billion), Rs 508 crore (Rs 5.08 billion) less than a year earlier. The Survey lists the completion of major rail and road projects, "lesser number of tourist arrivals" after the attack at Pahalgam, "followed by Operation Sindoor", and monsoon flash floods among the reasons. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)

Quoted reasons are the UT Economic Survey's own words. The Airports Authority and the Shrine Board publish counts only and give no reasons for changes. The 2025-26 value added figures are advance estimates and will be revised. GST is all tax collected, not tourism only.

How many pilgrims visit Vaishno Devi and Amarnath?

Pilgrims make up a large share of all visits. The Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district draws millions of yatris a year, and the Amarnath Yatra, a summer pilgrimage in the Kashmir division, draws hundreds of thousands.

7.72m 2016 8.18m 2017 8.60m 2018 7.90m 2019 1.72m 2020 5.83m 2021 9.09m 2022 9.52m 2023 9.46m 2024
View data table
Vaishno Devi yatris by year, 2016 to 2024, in millions, on the UT Tourism Department's series.
PeriodValue
20167.72m
20178.18m
20188.60m
20197.90m
20201.72m
20215.83m
20229.09m
20239.52m
20249.46m
Vaishno Devi yatris by year, 2016 to 2024, in millions, on the UT Tourism Department's series. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The Shrine Board counted 9,522,225 Vaishno Devi yatris in 2023, slightly more than in 2024. (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Oct 2026)
  • June 2026 was the busiest month of 2026 so far, with 1,313,803 yatris. January to September 2026 came to about 7.3 million, calculated from Shrine Board monthly figures. (Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Oct 2026)
  • The UT Tourism Department's Vaishno Devi figures, given to Parliament, are slightly different: 9,455,605 in 2024 and 6,932,922 in 2025. (Ministry of Tourism (Rajya Sabha reply, Feb 2026), Feb 2026)
  • The record year in the UT's Vaishno Devi series was 2012, with 10.495 million yatris (104.95 lakh). The 2020 count was 1.724 million. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The Amarnath Yatra drew 512,000 pilgrims (5.12 lakh) in 2024, 445,000 in 2023 and 365,000 in 2022. The record was 635,000 in 2011, and no yatra was allowed in 2020 or 2021 because of Covid-19. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)

The Shrine Board and the UT Tourism Department publish slightly different Vaishno Devi counts; each is given with its source. Vaishno Devi yatris are part of the Jammu division's visits. Amarnath counts for 2025 and 2026 were not found in an official release, so none are given.

Which parts of Jammu and Kashmir get the most visitors?

Close to nine in ten visits to the Union Territory are counted in the Jammu division, and more than half of the Jammu figure comes from Reasi district, where the Vaishno Devi shrine stands. Most Jammu districts had fewer visits in 2025.

  1. 1 Reasi 8.12m
  2. 2 Udhampur 1.95m
  3. 3 Rajouri 1.46m
  4. 4 Jammu 1.34m
  5. 5 Kishtwar 455k
Domestic tourist visits in 2025 (provisional), the five busiest districts of the Jammu region. (Ministry of Tourism (Rajya Sabha reply, Feb 2026), Feb 2026)

District figures were given in a Rajya Sabha reply on 5 February 2026, as provided by the Union Territory; 2025 figures are provisional. The Jammu region covers 10 districts. The percentage changes and the regional share are our calculations.

Where do foreign visitors to Kashmir come from?

Malaysia sends more foreign visitors to the Kashmir Valley than any other named country, far ahead of the United States and the United Kingdom. Most foreign visitors are not broken out by country, so the named list is partial.

  1. 1 Others 27.41k
  2. 2 Malaysia 10.51k
  3. 3 United States 1.17k
  4. 4 United Kingdom 0.79k
Foreign tourists to the Kashmir Valley by country of origin, 2024, in thousands. Most are not assigned to a named country. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)

Country figures cover the Kashmir Valley only and are rounded to tens in the source. No 2025 country split has been published. The satellite account counts tourists from a household and visitor survey, a different basis from the Tourism Department's visit counts.

Why do people visit Kashmir?

Most visitors come for a holiday and about a fifth for pilgrimage, on the only official purpose-of-visit survey, which dates from 2014-15. It covered the former state, including Ladakh, so it is a dated guide.

  • Holiday and leisure 73%
  • Pilgrimage 21%
  • Other 6%
Purpose of visit of sampled domestic overnight visitors, 2014-15 survey. "Other" is the remainder. (Ministry of Tourism (J&K tourism survey 2014-15), May 2017)

Survey fieldwork ran from May 2014 to April 2015 and the report is dated May 2017. Shares are of sampled visitors, not of all visits. The domestic trips estimate comes from the satellite account and is not comparable with the Tourism Department's visit counts.

How many passengers fly into Srinagar?

Srinagar is the main airport for the Kashmir Valley and handles more than twice the traffic of Jammu. Its passenger numbers fell in the 2025-26 financial year after the highest year in the series shown here, and the first half of 2026-27 is slightly up.

  1. 1 Srinagar FY 2024-25 4.47m
  2. 2 Srinagar FY 2025-26 3.37m
  3. 3 Jammu FY 2024-25 1.61m
  4. 4 Jammu FY 2025-26 1.38m
Passengers at Srinagar and Jammu airports in the last two financial years. (AAI, Apr 2026)
  • Srinagar handled 4,472,449 passengers in FY 2024-25, the highest of the six financial years shown here, up 6.3% on FY 2023-24. (AAI, Apr 2025)
  • It handled 4,205,541 in FY 2023-24, 4.6% fewer than in FY 2022-23. (AAI, Apr 2024)
  • FY 2022-23 traffic was 4,409,665, up 39.6% on the year before. (AAI, Apr 2023)
  • In the pandemic-hit FY 2020-21 Srinagar handled 1,802,904 passengers, rising to 3,158,400 in FY 2021-22. (AAI, Apr 2022)
  • From April to September 2026, Srinagar handled 1,734,949 passengers, 2.4% more than a year earlier, when May and June traffic was lower. September 2026 alone was 17.6% down, at 223,471. (AAI, Oct 2026)
  • International passengers at Srinagar reached 23,711 in FY 2023-24, up from 11,591. (AAI, Apr 2024)
  • They fell to 5,128 in FY 2025-26, from 13,598, a very small share of the airport's traffic. (AAI, Apr 2026)
  • Srinagar handled 21,186 aircraft movements in FY 2025-26, 25.6% fewer than the 28,494 of FY 2024-25. (AAI, Apr 2026)
  • Jammu airport, which is domestic only, handled 1,383,717 passengers in FY 2025-26, 14.3% fewer than the 1,614,167 of FY 2024-25. (AAI, Apr 2026)
  • Jammu handled 617,576 passengers from April to September 2026, 6.2% fewer than a year earlier. (AAI, Oct 2026)

Passengers count every arrival and departure, including residents, workers and pilgrims, so they are not tourists. The financial year runs from April to March. Monthly figures are provisional. The Airports Authority gives no reasons for changes.

Can you reach Kashmir by train or road?

The Kashmir Valley has been linked to the national rail network since June 2025, when the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line was dedicated. Road access to Sonamarg changed with a tunnel finished in 2024.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link, dedicated on 6 June 2025, is 272 km long, cost around Rs 43,780 crore (Rs 437.8 billion) and has 36 tunnels covering 119 km and 943 bridges. (PIB, Jun 2025)
  • The Chenab rail bridge stands 359 m above the river and is 1,315 m long; the government calls it the world's highest railway arch bridge. (PIB, Jun 2025)
  • The government said the Vande Bharat train would take about 3 hours between Katra and Srinagar, 2 to 3 hours less than before. (PIB, Jun 2025)
  • From 2 May 2026 the Vande Bharat runs the full Jammu Tawi-Srinagar route of about 266 km in 4 hours 50 minutes, lengthened from 8 to 20 coaches after the Railways said it had run at full capacity since June 2025. (PIB, Apr 2026)
  • The 6.5 km Sonamarg (Z-Morh) tunnel on the Srinagar-Sonamarg road was completed in July 2024 at a cost of Rs 2,379 crore (Rs 23.79 billion). (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)

No rail passenger counts for Kashmir are published. "Full capacity" and "world's highest railway arch bridge" are the government's descriptions. Timetables are as announced and may change.

Where do visitors to Kashmir stay?

Srinagar district holds about two thirds of the Kashmir division's registered hotels. The Tourism Department also registers houseboats on the Srinagar lakes and homestays across the Union Territory.

  1. 1 Srinagar 443
  2. 2 Anantnag 112
  3. 3 Baramulla 48
  4. 4 Ganderbal 48
Registered hotels in the Kashmir division by district, 2024-25. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The Kashmir division had 662 registered hotels in 2024-25: 443 in Srinagar district, 112 in Anantnag (which includes Pahalgam), 48 in Baramulla (Gulmarg) and 48 in Ganderbal (Sonamarg). The UT total was 1,518. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The UT had 1,367 registered hotels in 2019-20, 1,392 in 2021-22 and 1,362 in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, on the latest Digest. The former state, including Ladakh, had 1,655 in 2018-19. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The Kashmir division had 659 registered hotels in 2023-24, so most of the 2024-25 rise was in the Jammu division. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2023-24, Mar 2025)
  • The Kashmir division also had 348 tourist huts, 10 tourist bungalows and 197 registered restaurants in 2024-25. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • 856 houseboats were registered in 2022, a count from a GIS survey. The Tourism Department also registers 6 bathing boats and 1 ferry boat. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The UT's boat census counted 4,295 taxi shikaras in 2024-25, with 8,590 people working on them, plus 380 luggage boats and 241 residential boats. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Jammu and Kashmir had 6,069 registered tour and travel agents in 2024-25, up from 3,905 in 2021-22; 4,700 were in the Kashmir division, 3,471 of them in Srinagar district. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)

Hotel counts are registrations only; no room or bed totals are published. The resort names next to each district are geographic context, not part of the table. Houseboat figures are Tourism Department registrations; a separate boat census gives a different houseboat count, which is not used here. The homestay bed figure has no Valley split.

What are the most visited sights in Kashmir?

The Gulmarg Gondola and the government gardens of Srinagar, led by the Mughal gardens and the Tulip Garden, carry the largest published counts. No official visitor counts are published for individual resorts such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam or Sonamarg, or for the Tulip Garden on its own.

6.05m 2022-23 6.57m 2023-24 6.14m 2024-25
View data table
Visits to Floriculture Department gardens and parks by financial year, in millions.
PeriodValue
2022-236.05m
2023-246.57m
2024-256.14m
Visits to Floriculture Department gardens and parks by financial year, in millions. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The Gondola earned Rs 13,703.09 lakh (about Rs 1.37 billion) in 2024-25 and carried about nine in ten of all ropeway rides in Jammu and Kashmir, which totalled 1,236,773. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Other ropeways carried far fewer riders: Patnitop 76,895 and Makhdoom Sahib in Srinagar 26,294. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • The UT's 2024-25 Economic Survey gave a different Gondola figure: 768,000 users (7.68 lakh) during 2024 and Rs 103 crore (Rs 1.03 billion) of revenue. (J&K Economic Survey 2024-25, Mar 2025)
  • Visits to the Floriculture Department's gardens and parks were 6.574 million (65.74 lakh) in 2023-24 and 6.048 million (60.48 lakh) in 2022-23. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The gardens recorded 4.801 million visits (48.01 lakh) in 2025-26 up to November 2025. Garden revenue was Rs 23.71 crore (Rs 237.1 million) in 2024-25. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The department runs 278 gardens, parks and lawns over 10,628.30 kanals, 211 of them in the Kashmir division, including the Tulip Garden and eight heritage Mughal gardens such as Nishat, Shalimar and Pari Mahal. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The three ticketed Archaeological Survey of India monuments in Jammu and Kashmir drew 42,223 domestic and 76 foreign visitors in FY 2025-26, down from 61,490 and 291 in FY 2024-25. (Ministry of Tourism (India Tourism Statistics 2026), Sep 2026)
  • The Avantiswami Temple at Avantipur, in the Valley's Pulwama district, drew 18,583 domestic visitors, 55.4% fewer, while the Kiramchi temples rose 29% to 17,855. (Ministry of Tourism (India Tourism Statistics 2026), Sep 2026)
  • On Dal Lake, a 30 MLD sewage treatment plant at Gupt Ganga, Nishat is being built for Rs 306 crore (Rs 3.06 billion), and houseboats are being connected to treatment plants. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • Between 300 and 400 people clean the lake every day, and a Rs 212.38 crore (about Rs 2.12 billion) project for the Dal and Nigeen lakes is being launched. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)

Gondola figures are rides, not unique visitors, and the two Gondola counts cover different periods. Garden visits are a UT-wide total across all 278 sites, not per garden, and the source does not say whether unticketed entry is counted. ASI figures are for the financial year and cover only its ticketed sites; the Mughal gardens are Floriculture Department sites, not ASI monuments. The nine-in-ten Gondola share is our calculation.

What winter sports and events does Kashmir host?

Gulmarg is the venue for India's national winter games, and the UT counts adventure operators, film shoots and a marathon among its other draws.

103 2021-22 118 2022-23 149 2023-24 207 2024-25
View data table
Registered adventure tour operators in Jammu and Kashmir by financial year.
PeriodValue
2021-22103
2022-23118
2023-24149
2024-25207
Registered adventure tour operators in Jammu and Kashmir by financial year. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Gulmarg hosted the 5th Khelo India Winter Games on 9 to 12 March 2025, with ski mountaineering, alpine skiing, snowboard and Nordic skiing. Jammu and Kashmir's 37-member team (27 men, 10 women) won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Five editions of the games have been held at Gulmarg, and the Survey said the sixth would be held there in February 2026. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The Kashmir Marathon's 2025 edition drew over 1,000 runners, including athletes from 11 countries, after its 2024 debut. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • Over 72 film and OTT projects were shot in the Union Territory in the past year, the 2025-26 Survey says. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • 102 films and web series were shot in Jammu and Kashmir in 2023 under the J&K Film Policy. (J&K Economic Survey 2024-25, Mar 2025)
  • Jammu and Kashmir had 207 registered adventure tour operators in 2024-25, up from 103 in 2021-22; 160 were in the Kashmir division, led by Anantnag (55) and Srinagar (47). (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Baramulla district, which includes Gulmarg, gets about 117 cm of snow a year, about 40% of it in February and March. (IMD (Climate of Jammu & Kashmir), Jul 2014)

The Khelo India team figures are Jammu and Kashmir's own participants, not all athletes. Film and marathon figures are statements in the UT's Economic Surveys, and the "past year" is not dated more exactly. No official trekking permit counts were found. Snowfall is a district average from an older weather service publication; higher slopes get more.

What is tourism worth to Jammu and Kashmir?

Tourism is a large part of the UT economy, but the measures are old or broad. The only satellite account dates from 2015-16, and the newer share in the Economic Survey gives no method. The government's own revenue from tourism is small.

Rs 99.0m 2021-22 Rs 97.9m 2022-23 Rs 202.2m 2023-24
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The UT government's non-tax revenue from tourism, full financial years, in Rs million.
PeriodValue
2021-22Rs 99.0m
2022-23Rs 97.9m
2023-24Rs 202.2m
The UT government's non-tax revenue from tourism, full financial years, in Rs million. (J&K Economic Survey 2024-25, Mar 2025)
  • Tourism's direct value added in 2015-16 was Rs 4,069.03 crore (about Rs 40.7 billion), out of a state total of Rs 110,634.31 crore (about Rs 1.11 trillion). (Ministry of Tourism / NCAER (satellite account), Dec 2019)
  • Tourism industries supported 282,000 jobs (2.82 lakh) in 2015-16, 6.74% of the state's 4.191 million jobs, against 5.40% for India. (Ministry of Tourism / NCAER (satellite account), Dec 2019)
  • Internal tourism consumption in the state was Rs 15,445.90 crore (about Rs 154.5 billion) in 2015-16. (Ministry of Tourism / NCAER (satellite account), Dec 2019)
  • The UT government's non-tax revenue from tourism was Rs 20.22 crore (Rs 202.2 million) in 2023-24, up from Rs 9.90 crore (Rs 99.0 million) in 2021-22, and Rs 25.99 crore (Rs 259.9 million) in 2024-25 up to December. (J&K Economic Survey 2024-25, Mar 2025)
  • The 2020 Tourism Policy aims to create jobs for about 50,000 people a year and attract Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) of investment a year for five years. (J&K Economic Survey 2024-25, Mar 2025)
  • Rs 390 crore (Rs 3.9 billion) of the UT's 2025-26 capital budget is going on works at tourist sites, and 611 tourism infrastructure projects, including Amarnath Yatra works, have been completed. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • A convention facility at Gulmarg was completed under the central Swadesh Darshan scheme for Rs 21.01 crore (Rs 210.1 million). (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • The Ministry of Tourism sanctioned six Himalayan Circuit projects for the UT in 2016-17, costing Rs 519.58 crore (Rs 5.1958 billion), all now physically completed. The Ministry says it has not made a formal study of the jobs they created. (Ministry of Tourism (Lok Sabha reply, 21 Jul 2025), Jul 2025)
  • Jammu and Kashmir ranked 18th of the states and union territories in the Ministry's State Tourism Performance Framework, scoring 5.197 out of 10, against 6.462 for Goa in first place. (Ministry of Tourism (India Tourism Statistics 2026), Sep 2026)

The Economic Survey's GSDP share and livelihoods figure are government statements with no method or year given. The satellite account covers 2015-16, when the state still included Ladakh, and its direct figures count tourism businesses only. Non-tax revenue is the tourism department's own fees and rents, not taxes paid by tourism businesses. Policy figures are targets; we found no published outturn against them. These measures differ and are not added together.

How safe is Kashmir for visitors?

Two official series apply. Police records compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau count crimes against foreign tourists, and the Home Ministry counts terrorist-initiated incidents across the whole Union Territory, which is not a tourist-only measure.

228 2018 153 2019 126 2020 129 2021 125 2022 46 2023 28 2024
View data table
Terrorist-initiated incidents in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by calendar year, Home Ministry figures.
PeriodValue
2018228
2019153
2020126
2021129
2022125
202346
202428
Terrorist-initiated incidents in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by calendar year, Home Ministry figures. (Ministry of Home Affairs, Mar 2026)
  • Police in Jammu and Kashmir registered 0 cases of crime against foreign tourists in 2023, when India recorded 125 (our sum of the table). (Ministry of Tourism (Lok Sabha answer, NCRB data), Jul 2026)
  • The National Crime Records Bureau keeps no data on crimes against domestic tourists. Jammu and Kashmir is listed among the states and union territories that have deployed tourist police. (Ministry of Tourism (Lok Sabha answer, NCRB data), Jul 2026)
  • Terrorist-initiated incidents in the Union Territory numbered 228 in 2018, 46 in 2023 and 28 in 2024. (Ministry of Home Affairs, Mar 2026)
  • Civilians killed numbered 55 in 2018, 14 in 2023 and 26 in 2024, and security force personnel killed 91, 30 and 31. The civilian count covers deaths in terrorist-initiated incidents and in counter-terrorism operations. (Ministry of Home Affairs, Mar 2026)

Crime figures count cases registered by police under the crime-against-foreign-tourists heads, as given in a Lok Sabha answer on 27 July 2026; incidents not reported to police are not counted. Home Ministry figures are calendar years for the Jammu and Kashmir divisions together, from its Annual Report 2024-25, which does not cover 2025.

When is the best time to visit Kashmir?

Spring, early summer and October are the mildest times in Srinagar, and Valley visits peak in June and July. Winter is cold, with snow in the hill resorts and the fewest visitors.

  1. 1 Gulmarg 1,449 mm
  2. 2 Pahalgam 1,274 mm
  3. 3 Srinagar 698 mm
Average annual precipitation, rain plus snow, at three Kashmir stations, 1991 to 2020. The hill resorts get about twice as much as Srinagar. (IMD, 1991-2020)
  • The weather service describes Srinagar's weather as "pleasant in months of April to June and October". Its records are 38.3°C on 10 July 1946 and -20°C on 6 February 1895. (IMD (Climate of Jammu & Kashmir), Jul 2014)
  • Srinagar's average daily high runs from 7.1°C in January to 30.0°C in July, and its average January low is -1.9°C. (IMD, 1991-2020)
  • March is Srinagar's wettest month, with 104.6 mm over 7.2 rainy days, and October the driest, with 21.8 mm over 2.0 days. The annual total is 697.5 mm. (IMD, 1991-2020)
  • Gulmarg averages a high of 0.7°C in January and 21.1°C in July, with a January low of -7.7°C. It gets 1,449.2 mm of precipitation a year over 95.3 rainy days, most in March (215.6 mm) and February (207.5 mm). (IMD, 1991-2020)
  • Pahalgam averages a high of 4.9°C in January and 25.5°C in July, with a January low of -6.1°C, and 1,273.5 mm of precipitation a year over 90.8 rainy days. March is wettest (171.2 mm) and October driest (38.2 mm). (IMD, 1991-2020)
  • Anantnag district, which includes Pahalgam, gets about 100 cm of snow a year, about 70% of it in December and January; Srinagar district gets about 29 cm, about 75% of it from January to March. (IMD (Climate of Jammu & Kashmir), Jul 2014)
  • In 2024, Gulmarg recorded 1,205.3 mm of precipitation over 101 rainy days, Pahalgam 1,029.1 mm over 94 days and Srinagar 702.3 mm; the two resorts were below their long-term normals. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2024-25, Feb 2026)
  • Kashmir division visits in 2024 peaked in July at 526,740 and June at 378,119, and were lowest in December (114,529) and November (120,065). These monthly figures leave out Amarnath pilgrims. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • Foreign visits to the Kashmir division peaked in April 2024, at 7,348. (J&K Economic Survey 2025-26, Feb 2026)
  • In 2023, Kashmir division visits peaked in July at 736,800 and June at 436,700, with January (127,500) and February (128,600) lowest. The 2023 monthly figures add up to the year's total including Amarnath pilgrims, so they are not compared with 2024 months. (J&K Digest of Statistics 2023-24, Mar 2025)

Temperatures and precipitation are 1991-2020 normals from the Meteorological Centre Srinagar; the "pleasant" months, records and snowfall come from an older weather service summary. Precipitation includes the water in snow. Monthly visit figures are the Tourism Department's; 2024 months exclude Amarnath pilgrims and 2023 months include them.

Glossary

DTV and FTV
Domestic and foreign tourist visits, counted at each place visited, so one traveller can count more than once.
Kashmir division
The administrative division of the Union Territory covering the Kashmir Valley districts, including Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla and Ganderbal.
Jammu division
The administrative division covering the Jammu region's 10 districts, including Reasi, home of the Vaishno Devi shrine.
Yatri
A pilgrim. The Vaishno Devi and Amarnath counts are of yatris.
Amarnath Yatra
A summer pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in the Kashmir division, held in July and August. Some official series include its pilgrims and some do not.
GSDP and GSVA
Gross state domestic product and gross state value added, the size of the Union Territory's economy.
TSA
Tourism Satellite Account, which measures tourism's share of the economy. The latest for the area covers 2015-16.
AAI
The Airports Authority of India, which publishes passenger traffic for Indian airports.
IMD
The India Meteorological Department, the national weather service.
NCRB
The National Crime Records Bureau, which compiles crime registered by police across India.
PIB
The Press Information Bureau, the government's official news service.
FY
Financial year, April to March. FY 2025-26 runs from April 2025 to March 2026.
Lakh and crore
Indian number units: one lakh is 100,000 and one crore is 10 million.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from Indian central government bodies (the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Airports Authority of India, the India Meteorological Department and the Press Information Bureau) and from the Union Territory government's Directorate of Economics and Statistics, which publishes the Tourism Department's counts in its Economic Survey and Digest of Statistics, plus the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. Place names and divisions follow those sources. Each figure links to the document that carries it, with the date. Official series differ on whether Amarnath pilgrims are counted; each figure states its basis, and years on different bases are not compared or charted together. Visitor counts for individual resorts such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg, and for the Tulip Garden, are not published in these reports, so none are given. Lakh and crore figures are converted to international units. Where we calculated a figure, such as a share or a sum, the text says so. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.