The UT of J&K has launched the ‘Mission Youth’ – a new initiative aimed at bringing 80 villages to the forefront of tourism, informed Dr. G N Itoo, Director Tourism, Kashmir while interacting with media at the outset of OTM held in Mumbai recently.
“The soul of each village, unique on its own, will serve as the USP to promote tourism. The energetic youth of the villages will not only get employment but will be projected as the native ambassadors of tourism. They will focus on ensuring the availability of good homestays and hotels for making the tourist experience most comfortable and memorable,” he explained.
In addition, the government has carefully chosen 75 new destinations in Kashmir and extraordinary efforts are being put in to maintain the pristine environment. All of these 75 destinations have well-established connectivity to reach several sought-after destinations like Doodhpatri, Bangas, Doda, and many others where tourism has a strong footprint.
The government is also in talks with cab aggregators to make their services available for the convenience that the tourists are used to in their own cities.
The Director Tourism further revealed that despite pandemic challenges, the tourist footfall in Kashmir had touched an impressive number of 6.65 lakhs and it was a similar scenario in Jammu as well. They had bumper seasons in the autumn and winter as well.
“As a result of the various measures initiated by the department for the revival of the tourism sector, throngs of domestic tourists had visited during winters and enjoyed snow in Gulmarg, Srinagar, Pahalgam, Patnitop, Sanasar, Natha Top, Sonmarg, and Doodhpathri,” said Itoo.
“The good times have continued to roll for the UT, as the visitors’ numbers in 2022 since January have been growing at a very encouraging pace,” he added.
The Department of Tourism J&K participated in the OTM in a big way, as part of its extensive winter tourism promotional campaigns across major cities of the country.
Dignitaries such as Bakshi Javed Himayun, Director SKICC, and Manav Gupta, Secretary JTGC, Jammu & Kashmir represented the Jammu Kashmir Tourism Board at the event.
