2.5L tourists visit Kashmir Valley during 1st quarter of '17
According to reports, 2.5 lakh tourists visited Kashmir Valley during the first quarter of this year while 3.5 lakh tourists visited the Valley during the same period in 2016. Eleven lakh tourists visited Kashmir Valley between January-July 2016. Following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, the number fell to one lakh for the remainder of 2016. 
There is finally good news coming in from Kashmir in the form of tourists visiting the Valley. According to the MHA sources, two-and-a-half lakh tourists visited the "paradise on earth" in the first quarter of this year. The figure is much lesser than that of the same period of 2016, which witnessed 3-and-a-half lakh tourists visiting the Valley. The Valley saw a massive slump in tourist arrival since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani in July last year. The year 2016 saw  an impressive 11 lakh tourists heading to the Valley for vacations till July before Wani's death. But the number came down to just one lakh in the next five months. The MHA sources said, "The decline in this year's visitor number is due to the extended winter season and snowfall, and not militancy related incidents."BUSINESSMEN SKEPTICAL Zuber Mahajan, tourist related businessman, however, sounded pessimistic. "I called couple of hotels today including  The Lalit, Taj and Sarovar, but they are all full, because of an official delegation. However, there are not many tourists; the Dal lake - the iconic landmark of Srinagar is empty. There have been incidents of stone-pelting in Srinagar that has affected the numbers." says a dejected Mahajan, hoping that tourism might pick up now. 