Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Tuesday chaired a meeting to review the development of emerging tourist destinations across Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to the CM Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the CM Dheeraj Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary Tourism Dr. Ashish Chandra Verma, Director Tourism Kashmir Raja Yaqoob Farooq, MD JKTDC Shreya Singhal, Director Tourism Jammu, representatives from BISAG-N, and other concerned officials, both in person and through virtual mode.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister emphasized the need to initiate site-specific Tourism Development for the identified destinations with focus on Master Plan for each destination. He highlighted the importance of creating dedicated solid and liquid waste management systems to ensure environmentally sustainable tourism. He also underlined the need to have Project Management Unit in place with adequate staff to strengthen institutional mechanism. He expressed satisfaction on the progress made with the World Bank team for multi-lateral funding of the initiative to bring about sustainable development of new tourist destinations. He called upon Tourism Department to furnish the proposals for cabinet approval in earnest.
The Chief Minister further stressed the importance of establishing multi-tiered coordination among tourism authorities, local bodies, line departments and between J&K Government and Government of India to ensure smooth execution of projects as per time lines.
On the occasion, a presentation was given on the tourism potential of emerging destinations and the employment opportunities they could generate for local youth.
The Chief Minister urged the concerned departments to ensure that while developing emerging destinations, a careful balance is maintained between Economy, Ecology, and Equity (the 3E principle).
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also launched the Tourism App which would help tourists and all interested to explore J&K tourism destinations, facilities available and host of other relevant information.
