After several summers of unrest, the valley has something to cheer about. Taj Hotels started operations at its first hotel, Vivanta by Taj, on Sunday. Vivanta, which will be inaugurated by CM Omar Abdullah, sits atop a hillock overlooking the Dal Lake and Asia’s largest tulip garden in the heart of Srinagar.
The hotel, set up in collaboration with Saifco Hillcrest Hotels, a local hotel chain, is spread over six acres. It has 89 rooms, six suites, including a 2,500 sq feet presidential suite, restaurants, spa and fitness centres, banquet facilities and a business centre.
The opening of the first hotel of international standards in the valley – whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism – has got people, particularly those associated with the tourism, excited; more so because the violence of the past more than 20 years has badly hurt the tourism industry.
“This is a landmark in the history of Kashmir’s tourism,” said Riyaz Qureshi, who heads Kashmir’s University’s Tourism Management programme. “We don’t have the requisite infrastructure, let alone super structures for high income tourists. Also, this will encourage local investors to invest in the travel industry.”
Vivanta was scheduled to open last year, but the plan had to be shelved after the valley erupted in protests that eventually consumed much of the year.
