Shift from mega tourist promotional events at international tourist destinations to development of tourist infrastructure at new tourist has obviously contributed largely to the unprecedented rise in tourist footfall in Jammu & Kashmir.
While the focused attention on showcasing Kashmir tourism in major cities of the country and world class tourist destination centres in different parts of the world has led to unprecedented rise in tourist footfall for the second consecutive year, the development of tourist infrastructure at the new tourist places to bring them on the international tourist map remains a bigger challenge for the tourism department. Shift from mega tourist promotional events at international tourist destinations to development of tourist infrastructure at new tourist has obviously contributed largely to the unprecedented rise in tourist footfall in Jammu & Kashmir. While the ministers, administrative secretaries and directors of the tourism department during the years of popular rule in erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state used to spend big chunks of money on foreign trips for holding cultural conclaves at world class tourist destination centres to showcase valley’s old tourist destinations there, not even a single audit was conducted to fix responsibility on the responsible public functionaries for the failure of such mega cultural events at world class tourist destination centres for years and decades together. On the contrary the incumbent Government under the leadership of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha does not allow lavish spending on tourism promotion as was the precedence of the successive popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state. The approach of the incumbent Government to develop tourist infrastructure at the new tourist places identified during last three years before showing them in different parts of the country and at different world class tourist destinations would most probably lead to further surge in the tourist footfall in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Promise of developing tourist infrastructure in Jammu & Kashmir had been virtually reduced to papers during the reigns of popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state as no new tourist destination in Kashmir identified for development for tourist attractions was worth to be called a world class tourist destination centre. However during last two years the tourist infrastructure has been developed on modern lines at most of such tourist destinations. Since Government has accorded high priority to the development of tourist infrastructure at new tourist places for the purposes of increasing the tourist footfall, most of the new tourist destinations like Bungus Valley in Kupwara and Tosamaidan in Budgam district show an unprecedented rise in tourist footfall”.
Promise of developing tourist infrastructure in Jammu & Kashmir had been virtually reduced to papers during the reigns of popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state as no new tourist destination in Kashmir identified for development for tourist attractions was worth to be called a world class tourist destination centre. However during last two years the tourist infrastructure has been developed on modern lines at most of such tourist destinations. Since Government has accorded high priority to the development of tourist infrastructure at new tourist places for the purposes of increasing the tourist footfall, most of the new tourist destinations like Bungus Valley in Kupwara and Tosamaidan in Budgam district show an unprecedented rise in tourist footfall.
