Secy Tourism meets travel, hospitality sector reps

Srinagar: To offset the negative perception about the State, J&K Tourism Department is soon going to launch second phase of multi-pronged tourism promotional campaign within and outside the country.
Secretary Tourism, Rigzin Samphel stated this at a meeting with the representatives of travel and hospitality sector held here Friday at Tourism Directorate office.
Rigzin Samphel said the department has already started outdoor campaigns at Delhi and Mumbai airports where advertisements on J&K tourism run on regular intervals.
He said the department has also started a major advertisement campaign through print and electronic media at national and regional level across the country to attract travellers and apprise them about the tourism products of the State.
The Secretary Tourism said the department would also reach out to the leading travel and tour operators within and outside the country and apprise them about the J&K’s tourism products and the safety of the travellers to offset negative perception.
“We will take local stakeholders on board and the senior officers from the department will tour potential markets in India and abroad to further promote state’s tourism products.”
To show that Valley is safe for tourists, Rigzin Samphel said the department will host a Familiarization (FAM) Trip for the media houses of the country and take them to different tourist locations.
“There are lots of positive stories which media can project from this place. We want the media to visit this place and see how tourists are freely moving here and are enjoying local hospitality and making their holidays memorable.”
On the occasion, travel trade representatives also made several suggestions including hiring of professional PR agencies at national level.
Secretary Tourism gave a patient hearing to the suggestions and feedback of the travel trade and assured that the department would make every effort to promote it at the national and international level.
Director Tourism Kashmir Nisar Ahmad Wani, Joint Director Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Banday, Deputy Director Enforcement Amarjit Singh, Deputy Director Registration Syed Shabir Ahmad, Deputy Director Publicity Riyaz Ahmad besides assistant directors were also present in the meeting.