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| Mir inaugurates Kashmir festival from Kashmir Haat | | ‘Festival useful for Valley’s tourism revival’ | |
SRINAGAR: Minister for Tourism Mr. Ghulam Ahmad Mir today inaugurated fortnight Kashmir Tourism festival 2013 at Kashmir Haat, where recreation facilities besides stalls have been put in place by different Departments to showcase the rich tourism, art and culture of the valley for attraction of tourists.
The fortnight festival was organized by Tourism Department with financial assistance of Central Government and in collaboration with different departments.
During the festival days different tourist related activities are being carried out at various tourism spots with focus to highlight adventure, golf, river and eco-tourism besides art and culture of the Valley.
Union Tourism Secretary, Mr. Parvez Deewan, District Development Commissioner Srinagar, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism Kashmir, Mr. Talat Parvez, Chief executive Officer Go-air, senior officers of various Departments and representatives of Tourism Associations besides tourists and locals were among others present on the occasion.
Speaking at the inaugural function, Tourism Minister said that Kashmir festival was organized after a long gap with the aim to bring back the tourism sector on the “revival path”. He said through the festival, the government intends to introduce the cultural traditions including Sufi music, folklore and other art forms adding that the Tourism Department along with the J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages (JKAACL) is also hosting a two-month folk festival across the Valley these days.
Mir said they were holding several adventure sports-related activities like paragliding and water sports that had not been exploited to its full potential.
On the development of unexplored tourist destinations, Mir said the authorities could not fully develop the infrastructure due to the un-favourable conditions in the past. However, he said, the government was working on developing the required infrastructure so that the full potential of the tourism sector was exploited.
He said the festival would not only help locals to come to know about their inheritance but their participation in the mega festival will depict a true picture of Kashmir’s rich culture which has no match in the entire world. He said “the two decade long turmoil completely hooked the chances of our younger generations to compete with the youth of other States of the Country. We want our youth to come out of the uncertainty which they faced these years,’’ he maintained.
He said during the festival days the concerned departments will host cultural events to keep the tourists entertained in the evening hours as well.
“There are no recreation activities available in the evening and the tourists usually do not have anywhere to go after sightseeing during the day. We will be holding several cultural programmes in the evenings, beginning with a qawali performance by Sabri brothers at SKICC on May 15,” Mir said and added that several other programmes showcasing the culture of Kashmir had been lined up to keep tourists entertained in the evenings at different tourism spots.
The Minister hoped that the festival would be a big success for tourism boom as the weather conditions in the Valley were pleasant as compared to the rising temperatures elsewhere.
He said that Tourism stakeholders like Tour and Travel Associations, Indian Airlines have already offered sops in tariff while as the Go-air has also today announced fare cuts for tourists who visit Kashmir. He called upon other stakeholders to offer sops for tourists to boost the economy of all stakeholders.
The Tourism Minister went around different stalls set up by departments of Tourism, Agriculture, Horticulture, Handicrafts, Agro-Industries, Floriculture, Sericulture, Wildlife, Fisheries, Cultural Academy, IHM, Information, WDC, besides other departments and appreciated the efforts of the stall holders for installing the stalls and providing all things at one platform to the tourists during festival days.
Union Secretary for Tourism Parvez Dewan in his address said that Kashmir is distinct in Tourism potential and Centre and State governments are making all out efforts to promote tourism industry in the State. He said 23% of Central Tourism Budget is being expended in J&K for promotion of tourism adding that out of the total budget of Rs.400 crore, Rs. 98.71 crore have been released to J&K Government for upgradation of tourist related infrastructure. He appreciated the efforts of State government for developing and upgrading tourist infrastructure in the State.
Commissioner Secretary Tourism, Mr. Atul Duloo said that the aim for organizing Kashmir festival is not only to promote tourism activities but to showcase rich cultural heritage of the Valley. He said the sector guarantees employment to both skilled and unskilled and added that tourism also boost economy of other sectors. He thanked the tourism stakeholders and Government departments for their cooperation for holding the festival in a short span of time. Director Tourism in his welcome address threw light on varied activities being carried out during the festival days at different tourism spots of the valley.
Today’s event was witnessed by a large number of tourists, besides locals who hailed the efforts of the Government for promotion of tourism and culture in Kashmir. The renowned Kashmiri artists presented variety of cultural programme on the occasion which enthralled and mesmerized the audience and received applause from everyone present on the occasion. |
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