JK refreshes bond with Gujarat for tourism promotion

SRINAGAR: To strengthen and refresh the age-old bond between J&K and Gujarat, the J&K Tourism Department held a road show at Ahmedabad as part of its promotional campaigns across the country to attract tourists.

Director Tourism Kashmir Dr. GN Itoo led the delegation of the representatives of local travel and hospitality sector for the promotion of the J&K’s vast tourism potential and invited travellers to the union territory.

Leading tourism operators, travel agents, destination management companies besides regional and national media were invited at the promotional evening on Thursday who networked with the J&K’s travel agents for business opportunities and promotion of the varied tourism products.

While appreciating the travel fraternity from Western coast of India for their continued promotion of Kashmir in travel packages, Director Tourism Kashmir said Gujarat has remained one of the major markets where a large number of travellers visit J&K.

In his detailed PowerPoint and video presentation, Dr Itoo highlighted the steps taken by the J&K government in mitigating the Covid19 threats and assuring safe journey for the travellers with the implementation of the set SOPs and guidelines.

He assured them that Kashmir is safe for tourism activities and hundreds of tourists are already enjoying their holidays at prime resorts like Gulmarg, Srinagar and Pahalgam.

The Director Tourism also highlighted the huge participation of over 2000 athletes and players in the recently concluded 2nd Khelo India National Winter Games which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narindra Modi virtually. He informed them that the JK and Union Government have already taken up with the airlines the direct flights to Srinagar from major cities including Ahmedabad to facilitate easy connectivity between the regions.

Various short films on known and off-beat destinations were also screened on the occasion.

The J&K Tourism Department also held a separate media interaction in which representatives from over 50 popular media houses attended and interacted with travel fraternity from JK.

During the interaction, the media was also briefed about various steps JK Administration has taken to ensure travellers’s safety post Covid pandemic. They were also informed of various promotion activities conducted and the upcoming events and festivals so that travellers can align their tour programmes as per the festivals.

The travel show was organised in collaboration with J&K Pilgrim and Leisure Tour Operators Forum.

Additional Secretary Tourism Waseem Raja, CEO Tourism Dev. Authorities, Mansar Gurvinder Jeet Singh were also present on the occasion.

Chairman PILTOF Showkat Pakthoon besides various office bearers of the Forum who were present on the occasion had a fruitful interaction with their counterparts.

Ajay Modi – a leading travel agent from Gujarat – hailed the efforts of JK Tourism in opening the region for tourism activities.

He said J&K is one of the prime destinations of the country where travellers always return back with beautiful memories.

The department has already organised several shows at other major cities including, Kolkata, Pune, Puri, Jaipur, Amritsar. The department will also organise more road shows in Bhubaneswar, Bhopal and Bangalore on March 6 followed by Indore on March 8, Chennai on March 12, Raipur Varanasi & Lucknow on March 13, Nagpur on March 17, Mumbai & Hyderabad on March 19, Delhi on March 25, Cochin on March 26 and Mysore on March 27 besides it will also participate in major travel marts like OTM, SATEE as part of its aggressive marketing campaign.