SRINAGAR, India — Kashmir’s high-altitude Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden has welcomed roughly 100,000 visitors in the first 14 days of its 2026 season, according to state tourism officials, signaling what could become the valley’s busiest spring since before the pandemic.
Spread across the foothills of the Zabarwan Range on the banks of Dal Lake, the garden threw open its gates on 15 March, showcasing nearly 1.6 million bulbs in 68 tulip varieties. “The turnout has exceeded our most optimistic projections,” a senior officer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Department of Floriculture told SourceRated, crediting an early bloom and an extended spell of clear weather.
Chartered school excursions from Punjab and Gujarat, as well as a surge of domestic holiday-makers flying in from Delhi and Mumbai, have pushed hotel occupancy in Srinagar to above 90 percent, industry associations said. Data from India’s civil aviation regulator show commercial airlines added 22 extra weekly flights to Srinagar this month, an 18 percent year-on-year increase.
Officials also point to stepped-up security around tourist corridors. “We have deployed additional personnel on the Boulevard and installed high-resolution CCTV systems inside the garden,” a Kashmir police spokesperson said, adding that no major incidents had been reported.
The strong start has emboldened the regional government to revise its footfall target to 300,000 by 15 April, when temperatures typically send the fragile blossoms into decline. Local hoteliers, however, caution that any flare-up along the Line of Control or a sudden shutdown call by separatist groups could still dent arrivals. “The mood is upbeat but remains hostage to the larger geopolitical climate,” said Irfan Ahmad, president of the Kashmir Hotel & Restaurant Association.
Analysts note that tourism now represents around 7 percent of Jammu and Kashmir’s gross domestic product. “A record tulip season would deliver a timely economic cushion while the region waits for heavy summer inflows to Gulmarg and Pahalgam,” said Delhi-based economist Sunita Nair.
Looking ahead, the floriculture department is experimenting with late-blooming varieties and night illumination to stretch the season by another week next year. If successful, the initiative could lengthen Kashmir’s critical tourism window and further cement the tulip garden’s status as South Asia’s largest spring draw.