TULIP GARDEN IN SRINAGAR TO CLOSE ON APRIL 16 AFTER ATTRACTING OVER 3.5 LAKH VISITORS

SRINAGAR -- Asia’s largest Tulip Garden in Srinagar will close on April 16 as the bloom has declined to around 20 percent, officials said on Tuesday.

Assistant Floriculture Officer In-charge Tulip Garden Srinagar, Imran Ahmad, said the bloom is steadily fading and is expected to drop further in the coming days. He said the garden is usually closed once the bloom falls below 15 percent, and currently it stands at around 20 percent.

The garden has completed 29 days of operations this season, witnessing a total footfall of approximately 3.54 lakh visitors, including those who booked tickets online. Of these, nearly 2 lakh were domestic tourists, around 1.5 lakh were local visitors, along with a significant number of foreign tourists.

Officials noted a sharp rise in daily footfall this year. Earlier, the garden used to receive 3,000 to 4,000 national visitors per day, which has now increased to between 9,000 and 11,000 daily.

Despite challenges such as the garden opening 10 to 12 days earlier than usual and prevailing global uncertainties, the inflow of tourists has remained strong, with an average of around 10,000 visitors per day, particularly from outside Jammu and Kashmir.

The Tulip Garden traditionally marks the beginning of Kashmir’s tourism season, and officials have expressed optimism for a strong summer ahead, citing rising temperatures in other parts of the country and the Valley’s pleasant weather as key factors likely to attract more tourists.