Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today chaired the Board meetings of Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) and Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC).
Having taken over as chairman of both the Boards after they were recently reconstituted, the Chief Minister presided over back-to-back board meetings here at SKICC Srinagar.
Chairing the 19th board meeting of SKICC, which was attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Administrative Secretaries of Finance, Tourism, DG Planning, Director Tourism, MD JKTDC and Director SKICC, the Chief Minister emphasized the need for SKICC to emerge as a prominent place for conferences and other events so that the SKICC is utilized to its optimal level and it is able to earn sufficient revenue to bear its own expenses.
He called upon the SKICC management to employ strategic marketing tools to acquaint corporates and private organisations about this facility, which has the potential to be a hub of activities all year round.
CM expressed concern over the under-utilisation of SKICC and asked the Tourism department to build a distinct MICE brand identity for the SKICC so as to utilise this facility. “It is essential to target corporates, event planners, and government agencies to ensure higher bookings for SKICC and minimise unutilized days. This would help SKICC to augment its revenue,” CM said during the meeting.
CM also called upon making recoveries of outstanding dues pending with departments, private entities and individuals, and called for assigning clear roles to the staff and better supervision to get the best out of the available human resource.
This was the first board meeting of SKICC after it was recently reconstituted with Chief Minister as its chairman. The last board meeting of the SKICC was held in November 2020.
The agenda delved on action taken on decisions of previous board meetings, audit reports, reconciliation of accounts with AG’s office, status of segregation of utilities between SKICC and Centaur Hotel which has been outsourced to Leela Palace & JSW Realty by the UT administration last year, HR matters and absorption of Centaur Hotel staff in other organizations of the Tourism department.
In another meeting, the Chief Minister chaired the 95th Board of Directors meeting of the J&K Tourism Development Corporation and stressed on the need to increase the visibility of JKTDC assets so that tourists and people in general seek accommodation in JKTDC hotels and guest houses earnestly.
He called upon improving the services and facilities in JKTDC properties to enhance the experience of guests so that they prefer to take JKTDC accommodation every time they visit J&K.
CM expressed concern over misuse of JKTDC properties and revenue leakages. “Every single JKTDC asset be installed with an independent smart meter,” CM asserted, underlining the need to improve monitoring of JKTDC huts and hotels and to check misuse of assets.
He called upon improving the overnight-stay potential of huts in remote tourist areas. CM gave directions to make the maximum number of rooms including premium ones available for better marketability through Online Travel Aggregators so that JKTDC hotels and huts are used to optimum capacity. He called for developing the JKTDC App for efficient marketing and better accessibility to its services.
CM called for an audit of assets to evaluate the lacunae and how to improve deficiencies. The JKTDC management was directed to adopt best practices being followed in the private sector to improve its functioning.
Among various agenda points discussed in JKTDC board meeting, the onboarding of online travel aggregators for marketing and sale of hotel rooms and accomodations, reimbursement of outstanding dues from other departments, revision of rentals of JKTDC accommodation allotted to various departments & organizations, financial statements, unpaid dues of retired officials and action taken on previous board decisions figured prominently.
JKTDC Board meeting was also attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secy to Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, Administrative Secretaries of Finance, Tourism, Industries, DG Planning, Director of Tourism & Managing Director JKTDC.
