Srinagar, Feb 27: A hotel here threw open its doors for tourists stranded in Kashmir in the wake of tensions between India and Pakistan, which led to closure Srinagar airport for civilian flights on Wednesday.
“We are offering free accomodation and food for all those tourists who have got stranded in Kashmir due to the prevailing situation,” Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, chairman of The Kaisar Hotel, was quoted as saying by PTI.
Ahmad said his hotel, located at Jawahar Nagar in the heart of the city, has 30 rooms.
“Everyone is welcome and they can stay with us till the situation improves so that they can go home,” he added.
While the number of tourists in Kashmir was not known immediately, they got stranded due to closure of the airport and the highway.
Operations at the Srinagar airport have resumed “as of now”, Aviation watchdog DGCA said.
The Srinagar-Jammu national highway is closed in view of the damage caused to the road by the landslides over the past few days.
Following a brief closure of Srinagar airport amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan, prominent hotelier Mushtaq Chaya also offered free accommodation to the tourists stranded in the valley.
Chaya said they will provide free accommodation to the tourists in our Srinagar property, Radisson Srinagar during this difficult time.
“It is a gesture towards our beloved tourists stranded due to the prevailing situation in Srinagar. There are reports that many of them are running short of money as a result of which we have opened our doors for them,” he said adding that “any tourist who wants to stay at our place Raddison Blu will not be charged anything.”
“Kashmiris have always shown their hospitality towards the tourists and this time also we won’t let our visitors down.”
He said that any tourist in need of accommodation can contact Raddison Blu management in Srinagar.
He also urged the members of hoteliers’ club in particular and other hoteliers in general to also step forward and help distressed tourists in any possible way.
