Author(s): Samira Khan , M. Ibrahim Wani, M. Afzal Mir CCAS
Jammu & Kashmir State is a unique tourist destination in the sense that it offers attractions for varied type of tourists as Jammu is known for Pilgrim tourism, Kashmir for scenic & Ladakh for adventurous tourism. This kind of distinctiveness is seen only in the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the whole country. The state has a huge tourist potential while the growth & development of other sectors was restricted due to certain natural limitations. With the growth of population, there has been increase in the work force that needs to be engaged. Given the capacity of other sectors in the state, tourism has been the main sector which offers great scope to the growing able body work force. However, the on-going situation in the state has not only squeezed the space for adjustment but also left already absorbed large chunk jobless and adversely hit/affected the macroeconomic variables of the state economy. In this backdrop the present study has been undertaken to evaluate the impact of conflict on the macroeconomics variables and how it affected the physical1, social, human2 & institutional capital of the state. Being an agrarian economy, Jammu and Kashmir has a promising tourism sector which became the major target of the decade long unstable conditions. It is pertinent here to analyze the overall impact of conflict on the tourism sector of state economy. It was proved that tourism sector has both long-run as well as short-run causality running from real gross domestic product to other economic variables of the state economy during the conflict situation. So any underperformance in this sector would be detrimental for the growth of state economy. In order to revive the sector there is urgent need to invite all the stakeholders and evolve a strategy providing required incentives and concessions, to ‘put the state back on the confidence map’ so that the tourism sector would cope with the difficult situation and regain the sheen of its normal functioning and thereby would engage the masses in great numbers and benefit the state economy as well.