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| Jora says peace must for tourism to flourish Promises Craft Institutes at Jammu, Leh soon | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, JAN 27: Minister for Tourism and Culture, Mr. Nawang Rigzin Jora has said that peace must prevail in Jammu and Kashmir to allow tourism to flourish in the State. He said that the Government will take initiatives to convince countries to withdraw travel advisories on J&K, as the situation in the State has considerably improved.
The Minister was speaking here today at Hotel Asia during a seminar - Tourism to J&K - Challenges and Way out, organized by J&K Tourism Alliance, a conglomeration of hoteliers, tour travel agencies, houseboat-owners as well as the representatives of the handicrafts sector.
Secretary, Tourism, Mr. Naeem Akhtar, Director, Tourism, Jammu, Mrs. Sarita Chauhan, Chairman, J&K Tourism Alliance, Mr. G. M. Dug, President, Hotel Association, J&K, Mr. H. S. Anand, were also present on the occasion.
Mr. Jora exhorted all stakeholders to take centre-stage and take out peace marches to send a signal across that tourism can only survive when peace firmly entrenches itself in the State. He said the Government has taken various initiatives for holistic promotion of tourism which encompasses all the three distinct regions of the State. "In Jammu, we have great potential in pilgrim tourism while as in Ladakh, heritage and adventure tourism can be the unique selling proportions. Together with the great potential we have in Kashmir Valley, a complete package of three distinct destinations can be sold to the domestic as well as the international visitors", said Mr. Jora, adding that efforts are on to upgrade tourism infrastructure for absorbing all the visitors in the coming season.
Referring to the great potential that pilgrim tourism offers in Jammu, Mr. Jora said that even if 10 per cent of the 72 lakh visitors are encouraged to tour tourist destination like Bhaderwah, Surinsar, Mansar and Basohli, it will spread the yarn of tourism further in the region.
Dwelling at length on the tourism potential of the Poonch and Rajouri districts, the Minister said that opening of all-weather Mughal Road will provide a further fillip to the sector as there are several scenic and heritage spots waiting to come up on the tourism map of the State. "The basic idea of creating Tourism Development Authorities in the State was to focus on area-specific tourism potential for which a corpus of Rs. 20 crore has been created for every Development Authority", Mr. Jora said, adding that tourism will be dovetailed with heritage, adventure sports and pilgrim places to exploit its full potential.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naeem Akhtar said that various measures have been taken for strengthening the tourism infrastructure in the State and the tourism budget which was only Rs. 30 crore in 2006 has now crossed Rs.150 crore.
Stating that many Tourist Reception Centres at Poonch, Mendhar, Surankote, Rajouri, Basohli, Kishtwar and Badherwah have come up, the Secretary said that several measures are in the pipeline to further boost tourism in the region by setting up of more Tourism Development Authorities. He also said that Jammu has been brought on the map as a mega religious destination.
Mr. Naeem said that new picnic spots have been identified as having tourism potential and are being developed and added that adventure sports like golf, rafting and mountaineering are also high on the list. He said that the Institute of Hotel Management seats have been enhanced from 20 to 120, adding that 1-year Diploma course in Hotel Management will also be started shortly. He revealed that Food Craft Institutes in Jammu and Leh will be opened soon. "The work on Jammu Food Craft centre will commence for which Rs. 5 core have been sanctioned".
Later, Mr. Dug also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the problems of tourism industry and assured the Government of support from the people associated with the industry. He said that tourism offers great potential in improving the economy of the State. Urging the Government to remove all bottlenecks and impediments in the growth of the industry, he also presented a 20-point charter of demands for promotion of tourism in the State.
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