New Delhi: As many as 1.42 lakh tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir during the last month, which is the highest recorded in the past seven years, the government informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said the central government is helping in promoting tourism in Jammu and Kashmir and this is giving good results.
The number of flights to Jammu in the last month was 1,280 and Srinagar has 2,048 flights, which is the result of the Centre’s encouragement of creating civil aviation infrastructure, he said.
The financial assistance given by the central government is highest to Jammu in the country, which includes 3,902 loans during Covid and under the emergency credit line guarantee scheme, and as many as 1,03,750 people have been helped, Reddy said.
“The situation has improved after Covid in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last month alone, 1,42,000 tourists visited Kashmir. This is the highest number of tourists in the last seven years in Jammu and Kashmir,” the minister informed the Upper House of Parliament.
“Since June 2021 onwards, as many as 72 lakh tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir and this has helped local people and promote their arts and handicrafts,” Reddy said.
In his written reply, he said as a result of the steps taken, domestic tourism is at its peak in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“It is corroborated with the budget speech of the finance minister while presenting the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh for the year 2022-23. As per this, the tourism sector is also registering an increase in footfall of tourists. Around 1.43 Lakh tourists visited Kashmir in December, 2021 which is the highest in the last seven years,” Reddy said.
“From September 2021 onwards around 72.09 lakh tourists, including pilgrim tourists, visited Jammu and Kashmir which is much higher than the previous year. The winter season has witnessed 100 percent high-end hotel occupancy in Srinagar and at prominent tourist destinations particularly Gulmarg and Pahalgam,” the minister said in his written reply.
