Kashmir beckons Gujarat tourists

Kashmir is again making headlines about the revival of tourism in the state.

Gulam Hassan Mir, minister of tourism, Jammu and Kashmir, said in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, "By 2006, we are expecting seven lakh tourists in Kashmir, more than double of three lakh tourists who had visited Kashmir in 2004. The tourist inflow rose substantially in comparison to 2002 when merely 27,000 tourists visited Kashmir."

About marketing Kashmir and to overcome the fear psychosis of terrorism, Mir said, "The state is working towards dealing with security issues and we are undertaking advertisement campaigns and coordinating various marketing and promotional efforts."

Besides these, plans are afoot to start honeymoon packages to promote Kashmir, Mir added.

On Gujarati tourist visiting Kashmir, Mir said, "We are eyeing Gujarati tourists as it constitutes a major share in tourists inflow in Kashmir. Travel freak Gujaratis come with their whole family and that becomes an advantage as hotel occupancy rates go up faster."

About any special measures, Mir said that Cable Car Corporation operates a Gondola lift at Gulmarg at a height of 13,000 ft, which is the highest in the world. It is also planning to set up similar facilities at different tourist resorts in the state.

He also said that the directorate of tourism is overseeing the overall planning and execution of schemes for the development, up-gradation and improvement of the tourism infrastructure in different parts of the state.

It also supports the private sector in the form of incentives for setting up various tourism facilities as well as for promotion and marketing of their products and services.

Adventure sports such as trekking, ice skating, mountaineering, paragliding, white water rafting have been introduced.

The state directorate of tourism has tourist offices in all the tourist resorts and six promotional offices outside the state, one each at New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The directorate also has engineering division for the implementation and execution of various schemes for up-gradation and improvement of the tourism infrastructure.

A huge amount has been earmarked for promotion and marketing of various destinations through the print and electronic media as well as for sponsoring participation of the state's travel trade delegations at various travel marts and expos within the country and abroad.

The tourism department also conducts familiarisation tours of leading travel agents, tour operators and travel writers from within the country and abroad to different parts of the state.