BENGALURU: Tourism in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed unprecedented growth in the recent past with a slew of historic initiatives being launched by the government here for steering the sector to new highs.
The UT administration under the guidance of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, is making appropriate policy interventions to create investment opportunities in J&K for creating new infrastructure facilities and upgrading the existing ones through Private Participation for the overall growth of the Tourism sector to generate more employment opportunities.
To achieve the objective, the J&K Tourism department is all geared up to upscale its activities to promote Tourism and open up new verticals for which active engagement between the stakeholders from J&K and other states/UTs shall be organized on regular basis in all the regions of the country.
In this regard, the department being headed by Secretary Tourism, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, carried forward the promotional campaign in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the diverse tourism products, newly launched 300 destinations including off-beat destinations, trekking routes, religious circuits, arts and crafts, new initiatives and policies of the UT administration, particularly regarding the investment opportunities and the investible projects.
Recently, Special Secretary Tourism, Amarjeet Singh, participated in the 18th Hotel Investment Conference South Asia (HICSA) at Bengaluru, as part of the delegation of the Ministry of Tourism, led by Union Tourism Minister, G Kishan Reddy.
HICSA is an annual event that brings together a diverse range of participants from the hospitality, real estate, and investment industries including hotel owners, operators, investors, financiers, developers, architects, consultants, and other professionals from South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States to promote the development of new business opportunities and investment partnerships.
On the sidelines of the main summit, round table meetings were held by the delegation with the Industry partners to understand the challenges faced by them.
Another networking event was held in Hotel Residency Tower at Coimbatore where the Travel bodies led by the President, the Travel Agents Association of Coimbatore, K. Bharathi, immediate past president, B. Selvaraju, and others participated.
A presentation was made showcasing the Tourism potential of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, and the travel trade fraternity requested to motivate the tourists to visit the newly launched offbeat destinations which are equally beautiful and serene.
The participants were also informed about the Homestay Policy, Film Policy -2021 and the Industry Status accorded to the Tourism Sector in J&K UT which makes investments made in the sector eligible for incentives as per Industrial Policy. The trade members have shown keen interest in the investment opportunities at UT.
The visiting officer thanked the Travel trade fraternity for their support in the promotion of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir and for their interest in the investable projects. He also appreciated their useful insight on some of the important issues concerning J&K Tourism and assured the members that appropriate interventions shall be made wherever required for improvement in service delivery.
He also assured the Travel trade on holding a roadshow in the region in near future with the involvement of stakeholders from Jammu and Kashmir as well, so as to adopt the practices which enhance the experience of the tourists visiting J&K.
Later, a brief meeting was also held with the Travel operators of Chennai.
