SRINAGAR: A golf tournament was organised on Tuesday here at Royal Springs Golf Course as part of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India’s mega 3-day tourism event – “Tapping Tourism Potential of Kashmir – another day in paradise”.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Union Tourism Secretary, Arvind Singh, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism GoI, Rupinder Brar, Secretary Tourism, J&K, Sarmad Hafeez besides his excellencies
Ambassadors of Vietnam, Georgia, Kenya were present at the tee-off function who also participated in the tournament.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Secretary Tourism said Kashmir is blessed with beautiful golf courses and has huge potential for mega professional golf tournaments.
He said the golfers have evinced the interest to be part of future golf tournaments here which shows that this place has huge potential to attract golfers.
He said the government of India is laying special emphasis on JK’s tourism and is striving to revive it.
“We received a huge response from the travellers to Kashmir and the trend is likely to continue in the summers also. We are expecting good domestic flow to Kashmir,” he said.
He also stressed on promoting unexplored places where not many travellers visit for holidays.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism GoI, Rupinder Brar, this 18-hole golf course is next level and the golfer is smitten by its beauty as he plays here.
She said they will be collaborating with the JK for many such initiatives and including the golf tournaments in future to portray it as one of the prime golf destinations in the country. While expressing satisfaction with the successful conduct of the 3-day event, Rupinder Brar said they have taken positive feedback from the conference and the experts and they would accordingly be devising the plan to lift Kashmir’s tourism sector to another level.
She said the government of India is also making a good investment in infrastructure development and exploring new destinations to make JK a complete tourist destination.
Secretary Tourism, J&K, Sarmad Hafeez said the JK as a whole is golfers’ paradise as most courses are located in scenic places in the lap of nature.
Stating that Kashmir has a lot of potential in golf tourism as a niche product, the secretary of tourism said this golf tournament was the initiative aiming to invite golfers and showcase them on our greens so that they can organise more such tournaments and attract golfers here.
He said the successful conclusion of the event organised by the union ministry will go a long way in realising and exploring the full potential of Kashmir tourism.
He said a visit to J&K is a great experience all year round and all four seasons have something unique to offer for which department is promoting each session with various events.
