Jammu and Kashmir is to be the tourism capital of India
India ruled Jammu and Kashmir is all set to reopen the tourism sector. It is expected to be the tourism capital of India. The recent visit of Union Home Minister boosted the moral of the people.
Union Territory (UT) are determined to foil the nefarious designs of militants to disrupt the process of peace, prosperity and development in the region.
However, militants killed eleven civilians within a few days and made an attempt to drive out minorities and tourists from Kashmir. But the counter offensive launched by the security forces left 15 militants dead and restored the sense of security within a few days.
The unfortunate civilian killings in Kashmir led to some sort of panic in the initial days and there were apprehensions that the tourism industry may take a hit, but situation returned to normal within a few days. Hotel bookings witnessed a few cancelations but the buzz came back within no time.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration played an important role to restore the normalcy by holding cultural and tourism events and by organizing “Iconic Week Festival” in October end.
The crucial J&K visit of Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah boosted morale of the people and his assurance that the situation won’t be allowed to deteriorate proved to be a turning point.
Prior to commencement of Srinagar-Sharjah flight, the J&K Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai government for development of real estate, industrial parks, and other infrastructure in the Union Territory.
Highlighting significance of the MoU, Indian Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal had said that the world has started to recognize the pace with which J&K is traversing on the development bandwagon. “It is a strong signal to the entire world that the way India is transforming into a global power, Jammu & Kashmir is having a significant role in that as well,” Goyal had said.
Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department announced a 40 per cent discount on the room rents in hotels and houseboats to attract more tourists to Kashmir. Vice-President of Houseboat Association Kashmir, Manzoor Ahmed Pakhtoon while talking to a news portal stated that the government did the promotions in different parts of the country and held many shows including a houseboat show to promote Kashmir as a safe tourist destination.
Pakthoon said that these initiatives have helped and they are getting a lot of queries. “We are expecting a lot of tourists. We have special discounts, around 40 per cent of the discount for tourists staying in houseboats. The people around the world had a financial crunch and that’s why we are giving such offers. It will help the Kashmir tourism industry,” Pakhtoon was quoted as having said.
At present Kashmir is gearing up for winter tourism, famous resorts, Gulmarg in North Kashmir and Pahalgam in South Kashmir are packed with tourists and more are likely to arrive in the coming months to enjoy the winter in the Valley. People associated with the tourism industry in Kashmir are busy making future plans as they have sniffed that the Valley is set to witness bumper tourism season in the winter. Many hotels in Kashmir are full and the advance bookings are an indication that many tourists have planned to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Kashmir.
In 2020, the early snowfall in Kashmir had led to a high influx of tourists into the Valley. Thousands of visitors from different parts of the country had visited Gulmarg to celebrate natural Christmas amidst snowfall. This year also upper reaches of the Valley have received early snowfall and it has multiplied the hotel bookings.
More than 70 per cent of Kashmir’s economy is dependent on the horticulture and tourism sectors. The government too has ensured to keep things on track. The derailment predicted by the adversary has not happened as the situation has remained well under control. Message is clear that J&K has changed and the process to build “Naya J&K” is irreversible.
Source: DailySikh
BM
Comments