Shikara rides in Kashmir's Dal Lake now available for booking via app
Shikara rides in Kashmir Photograph:( X )
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The tourists visiting the valley have also appreciated the idea and said it will not only save time but also save them from haggling with the Shikara owners.
The tourists visiting the valley have also appreciated the idea and said it will not only save time but also save them from haggling with the Shikara owners.
Kashmir has broken all the records of tourist arrivals in the last few years and there have been many new developments related to the tourism industry in the valley. From the floating post office to the floating ATM on the world-famous Dal Lake, now it's the Shikara rides that can be booked via an app to make it hassle-free for tourists.
For the first time ever in India, the water transport facility has been made available for tourists via an app. Uber Shikara has introduced Shikara rides on the world-famous Dal Lake in collaboration with the Shikara Union of Srinagar. Tourists visiting Kashmir Valley can now pre-book their Shikara rides with fixed rates and location two weeks before their arrival. The service available for tourists will be a more convenient way to rent Shikaras in Dal Lake to enhance the visitor experience and save a lot of time and hassle.
''We are super thrilled to bring Uber Shikara to Srinagar, we in fact started Uber services in Kashmir last year. What we are coming to Srinagar with is a unique proposition and we are super thrilled, it's one place that's on every tourist's bucket list and ultimately when you find yourself in Srinagar, you have to do a Shikara ride. To book a Shikara ride you would go around and haggle with people, we just wanted to cut out the inconvenience and effort that it takes for tourists to book a Shikara. The idea is to make it super convenient for tourists and you can pre-book the rides, '' said Ruchika Tomar, Director of Communications, Uber.
Uber is not charging any commission from the Shikara owners for the booking made via the app. They are working with the Shikara Union which has prescribed government approved rates to make it transparent and easy for both the tourists as well as the Shikara owners. Kashmir has seen a huge influx of tourists from different states of India as well as abroad recently.
Shikara owners and houseboat operators have also benefited from the increasing number of visitors. All the tourists visiting the famous Dal Lake appreciated this move of online Shikara booking.
''I certainly feel it will be much more organized and hassle-free once Uber booking becomes available and if one can pre-book and certainly people from other places can have ease of pre-booking and they will be pretty sure that they will get their Shikara ride on time. The only thing I assume is there should not be any resistance from locals here. For Visitors and people like us it certainly would be beneficial and much more convenient, '' said Dr Gaurav Sharma, a tourist.
The tourists visiting the valley have also appreciated the idea and said that it will not only save time but also save them from haggling with the Shikara owners.
''It will be very hassle-free; we won't have to stand in queues, and it will be prepaid and we won't have to waste time. We will enjoy the lake more and give it more time to enjoy. This is a great move by Uber, and we are looking forward to booking the Shikara via apps, '' said Dr Sushmita, another tourist.
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Around 2.8 million tourists visited the Kashmir Valley in the year 2024. There was a huge increase in the foreign tourists visiting as well and the number was recorded at 35,254. Meanwhile, these numbers excluded religious tourism which also numbers in millions.
