Kashmir banks on almond and tulip blooms to revive tourism hit after Pahalgam terror attack

Facing a major setback after the Pahalgam terror attack in 2025, the Jammu and Kashmir Government is banking on the blooming gardens of tulips and almonds to revive tourism in the Valley this year.  

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is set to inaugurate a spring festival later this week at Srinagar’s Badamwari, an almond garden that offers mesmerising blooming pink and white flowers.  

“An additional 300 fresh almond trees have been planted to add to the bloom this year. A lavender patch spread over 50 kanal (6.25 acre) of Badamwari is being curated to extend the spring flowering up to May-June. Many new plants have been introduced to add to the colour palette and fragrance of the garden,” Mathoora Masoom, Director of Floriculture, Kashmir, told The Hindu.

Spread over 300 kanal (37.5 acre) of land, the Badamwari garden, which predates the 14th century, has an Afghan-era fort — Hari Parbhat — nearby. It also houses the shrines of religious figures revered by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

“We aim to transform the garden into an all-season garden. The idea is to introduce the visitors to the rich varieties of floral beauty Kashmir offers. The garden’s traditional aesthetics is being integrated into modern visitor-friendly features,” Ms. Masoom said.

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The Floriculture Department has introduced selfie points in the garden and refurbished all-wood rain shelters to popularise the garden on social media platforms. The blooming garden is being curated on the lines of Japan’s cherry blossom festivals, “to make it part of tourists’ itinerary”, even though the spring bloom offers a limited short period.  

Besides the almond blooming, the department will open the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar from March 16, which offers blooming tulips. With over 1.8 million tulip bulbs, comprising 70 to 75 different varieties, the garden offers a rare Netherlands’ Keukenhof-like bloom experience. Selfie points will be set up to allow tourists to record their memories. 

“We are fully prepared to receive visitors in the garden,” said the official.

The tulip garden hosted a record 8.25 lakh visitors in 2025 April. However, the terrorist attack on the 26th of that month flattened the tourism graph for many months. The attack killed 26 civilians, including 25 tourists. Operation Sindoor in May further dented the flow.

In fact, the tulip garden was among 44 destinations closed for tourists last year. However, it was reopened this year after a security audit. Only 11.16 lakh tourists visited Kashmir in 2025 compared to 26 lakh tourists in 2024. The tourism sector contributes nearly 7% to J&K’s Gross State Domestic Product.