The other day, while reviewing the functioning of J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC), the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah stressed on the need to increase the visibility of its assets and improving the services and facilities in JKTDC properties. It may be recalled here that JKTDC has huts and hotels at prime locations in Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg and other places but these assets have failed to generate the desired revenue as these remain poorly maintained and also invisible. Even on Srinagar-Jammu highway, JKTDC has assets at prime locations like Banihal, Batote and Ramban but these facilities too are poorly managed.
Given the concerns about the misuse of JKTDC properties, leading to significant revenue losses. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has emphasized the need for better monitoring, including the installation of independent smart meters for each asset to track usage and prevent financial leakages. While proper monitoring is a must but the basic issue is of proper maintenance of these assets. Most of them are torn town with lousy furniture and housekeeping. The lack of modern facilities and poor upkeep of JKTDC properties chase away the potential guests. There is a pressing need to improve services and infrastructure to enhance guest experiences and make JKTDC accommodations competitive with private options.
Once the concerned authorities ensure best upkeep of these properties, they should focus on the manpower to manage these. Presently, JKTDC lacks adequate staff to properly maintain and manage these properties thus these assets fail to generate sufficient revenue. When there is no sufficient revenue, the Corporation fails to cover routine maintenance costs thus the properties deteriorate further.
So, the concerned authorities should prioritize the upkeep, maintenance and renovation of these properties on modern lines, equip these with sufficient staff and ensure that these properties have all the facilities at par with private hotels and huts in the vicinity. Once this is ensured, the final step should be, what CM Abdullah has said, efforts to make these properties visible to the public eye.
For making these assets visible, need is to have a strong digital presence and get onboard the online travel aggregators for marketing and sale of hotel rooms and accommodations. The website of JKTDC should be updated with browser friendly facilities so that the intended tourists have easy access and can book the accommodations from anywhere. While JKTDC properties are hampered by a combination of mismanagement, inadequate maintenance, outdated digital infrastructure, and low visibility in the tourism market, if the efforts are made in the right direction, these properties can attract many tourists and even locals thus generating sufficient revenue. Once the properties are well maintained, an aggressive and efficient online campaign would undoubtedly generate good traffic.