Srinagar, April 24 -- Tourism has shown signs of recovery in Pahalgam a year after the terror attack at Baisaran, though visitor numbers are still far below the levels recorded before the assault rattled Kashmir's tourism sector. On April 22, 2025, terrorists gunned down 26 people, including 25 tourists, and a local guide in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam. The attack shook the whole country and pushed India and Pakistan to the brink ofwar. Official data from the tourism department shows 3.36 lakh visitors arrived in the south Kashmir resort between January and April 20 this year - just over half of the 5.51 lakh footfall recorded during the same period in 2025 before the April 22 attack. Of this year's visitors, 2.79 lakh were domestic tourists, 4,486 were foreigners, while 52,700 locals visited the resort for sightseeing and adventure activities. After the exodus of tourists from the Valley followingthe attack, merely 1.75 lakh domestic tourists visited the southern resort from May to December. The tourist activity, however, picked up in winter months--December, January and February. The numbers indicate a gradual revival in one of Kashmir's key tourist destinations. While stakeholders say confidence is returning and major tourist circuits are functioning again, the data also underlines that recovery remains incomplete. Last year, Pahalgam had witnessed a footfall of 5.51 lakh visitors in the same period --from January to April-- of which, 4.63 lakh were domestic and 5,411 were foreign tourists. Following the attack, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had shut 48 tourist spots across the Union Territory as a security precaution. Of these, 39 were reopened in phases after periodic security reviews. "Other than Baisaran, Pahalgam is open for tourists. The valleys of Betaab and Aru are also open and tourists are visiting these places daily," assistant director tourism, Pahalgam, Bilal Ahmad Mir, said. "The numbers are improving following the incident last year," he added. Before the Pahalgam attack, Kashmir witnessed back to back record tourist arrivals. In 2024, as per official numbers of the tourism department, 34.98 lakh tourists visited the Himalayan valley, up from 31.55 lakh in 2023 and 26.73 lakh in 2022. "Before the attack last year, there was a tourism boom in Valley and also in Pahalgam," Mir said. The data revealed that the Pahalgam saw its highest ever tourism arrival in 2023 with 8.19 lakh domestic tourists and 15,000 foreigners visiting the place. In 2024, Pahalgam saw arrival of 12.65 lakh tourists, including 8.19 lakh domestic travellers and 14,400 foreigners. However the overall numbers in Pahalgam dropped to 10.04 lakh in the year 2025 of which 6.38 lakh were domestic tourists and 9,000 foreigners. From May to December in 2025 following the Baisaran attack, the merely 1.75 lakh domestic tourists visited the southern resort. Prominent hotelier and former president of Kashmir Hoteliers and Restaurants Federation, Wahid Malik, said tourism arrival improved a lot during the winter months--December, January and February. "Post the Pahalgam incident, the tourism improved in winter but the war in Midlle East again slowed down the sector across the valley," he said....