Srinagar, March 14 -- Over the last decade, more than 15.3 crore tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), according to a report presented by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha earlier this week.

The report details the number of tourist visits (in crores) to J&K over the last ten years, comparing periods before and after August 5, 2019. From 2015 to 2019, tourism showed a fluctuating but generally upward trend, starting at 1.33 crore visits in 2015 and peaking at 1.69 crore in 2018. This was followed by a slight dip to 1.62 crore in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted tourism in 2020, with visits plummeting to 0.35 crore.

A partial recovery was observed in 2...