Beyond SKICC: A Call for People-Centric Tourism in Kashmir

Moving Past the Optics

Over the last few years, Jammu and Kashmir’s Tourism Department has invested crores in promotional campaigns, festivals, and mega-events to boost tourist inflow. Undoubtedly, tourism has become the face of Kashmir’s new developmental narrative. Yet, this revival—measured mostly through headcounts and hashtags—remains distant from the lived realities of common people.

While events hosted at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake may attract dignitaries and influencers, they do little to engage Kashmir’s ordinary citizens—the artisans, pony-wallas, local guides, traders, and rural youth—who are the real custodians of the Valley’s tourism culture. It is time the Tourism Department moved beyond SKICC, not just geographically but philosophically.

SKICC: A Gilded Cage of Celebration

SKICC has, for years, been the epicenter of high-profile events in Kashmir—from G20 meetups to musical nights, tourism conclaves, and cultural festivals. While these are certainly important for optics, diplomacy, and media narratives, they often represent a narrow segment of society—elite hoteliers, bureaucrats, artists, and dignitaries.

The problem isn’t with SKICC itself—it is a world-class venue and deserves its place. The problem lies in limiting the scope of cultural and tourism development to a privileged platform, thereby excluding the majority from participating in and benefiting from these initiatives.

When festivals become symbols of power rather than platforms of participation, they disconnect from the society they aim to represent.

Tourism for the Few or for the Many?

The fundamental question is: Whom does tourism serve in Kashmir today? While SKICC-style events may help create a high-end brand for Kashmir, they often fail to uplift the livelihoods of those who stand on the periphery of these events.

From street vendors in Anantnag to papier-mâché artisans in Budgam, from local folk singers in Baramulla to pony-wallas in Pahalgam—these are people who rarely, if ever, see the inside of SKICC. The voices that built the tourism sector are never heard in the air-conditioned halls of these events.

If tourism must truly define normalcy, then the definition must shift from elite participation to grassroots empowerment.

The Emotional Geography of Events: Why Venue Matters

Location is not just a logistical detail—it is a cultural and emotional signal. When an event is held at SKICC, it says, “This is for the privileged, for those who already have access.” When the same event is held in a community ground in Shopian, or in a village park in Kupwara, or a meadow in Pahalgam, it says, “This is yours too.”

Imagine the impact of holding a tourism festival not in the fenced lawns of SKICC, but in a bustling market in Ganderbal. Imagine a folk music concert by Dal banks not just for tourists in hotels, but for local families who have never seen these performances live. That is the difference between performance and participation.

Taking Festivals to the People

To truly democratize tourism, the festivals and cultural events must move out of the confines of SKICC and into spaces that are accessible, inclusive, and emotionally resonant with the people of Kashmir.

A few suggestions include:

• Village Squares and Local Grounds: Cultural programs, storytelling nights, and food festivals in town centers across South and North Kashmir.
• School and College Campuses: Involving students in hosting, performing, and managing tourism-related festivals to create career awareness and community bonds.
• Public Parks and Mughal Gardens: Organize public art and craft exhibitions, musical evenings, and poetry readings.
• Heritage Sites in Rural Areas: Use lesser-known heritage locations to celebrate local history and tourism potential.

Such efforts would not only spread economic benefits but also create a shared ownership of peace and prosperity, which no elite event can achieve alone.

The Moral Need to Shift

The recent terror attack in Pahalgam—where innocent tourists and a local pony-walla were mercilessly killed—has created a gaping emotional wound in the Valley. But it also presents an opportunity to reclaim tourism as an act of defiance and healing.

What better tribute than to hold the next tourism festival not at SKICC but in Pahalgam, in memory of those who lost their lives? Let that event be open to all—free of VIP enclosures, full of local stories, and rich with community spirit. That will not only redefine “normalcy” but will also give it a heart and a face.

Inclusion is Security: Why the Common Man Must Matter

By moving beyond SKICC, the Tourism Department would not just be altering its event calendar—it would be making a bold political and social statement. Inclusion reduces alienation. Participation creates ownership. And ownership builds resilience.

When common people feel they have a stake in the region’s image, they will also become its fiercest defenders—against terrorism, against misinformation, and against economic decay.

Rewriting the Tourism Script

The Valley of Kashmir is not a postcard for the privileged. It is a living, breathing landscape of people who have endured, survived, and hoped. To respect them, the narrative of development and peace must be inclusive—not selective. The time has come to move beyond SKICC and ensure that every celebration of Kashmir’s beauty also reflects the beauty of its people.

Inclusion is not an alternative strategy—it is the only sustainable way forward. Let us shift the spotlight from chandeliers to community halls, from red carpets to village roads, and from stage-managed spectacles to spontaneous joy. That is when tourism will truly become the heartbeat of a new Kashmir.