Tag: Kashmir Tourism

Jammu & Kashmir is looking to connect Gulmarg with Kargil and Drass in Ladakh, with a 600 km-long highway. The new highway will be constructed touching all the picturesque tourist spots in the Kashmir Valley, each of which will be “another Gulmarg”, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has said. The project cost is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore. “We are planning to construct a 600 km road which will touch tourist attractions like Keran, Gurej and Machhal. The road will connect all unexplored tourist spots and picturesque valleys and help open them for the tourists,” Subrahmanyam told a ... Read more

Jammu and Kashmir reopened to tourists on Tuesday, allowing only air travellers to enter the territory. The decision to partially reopen the region was taken by the government, which stated that safety guidelines will have to be strictly followed by the tourists. “There will be partial opening of the tourism sector for visitors from outside J&K, limited to tourists arriving by air only,” the government said in a statement. “In the view of the COVID related measures, it was imperative to put in place a protocol to be followed by the tourists as well authorities engaged in the hospitality sector.” ... Read more

Hotel Association of India (HAI), the apex body of the hotel industry in India, has said it will wholeheartedly support Jammu & Kashmir’s further development as a tourism destination. At the recently concluded India Global Week, KB Kachru, Vice President, Hotel Association of India and Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group called on investors to consider J&K for their new ventures citing good returns based on promising infrastructure and in the Union Territory.  The India Global Week 2020 was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and witnessed the presence of several luminaries from across the ... Read more

Various stakeholders representing Pahalgam tourism on Sunday requested the administration to allow tourists from other districts to visit Pahalgam so that local businesses can survive the COVID-19 aftermath. The point was raised at a meeting organised by the Pahalgam hoteliers, tourist taxi operators, adventure operators, pony wallas and other tourism allied service providers. The meeting was presided by Faheem Behaqi, sub-divisional magistrate of Pahalgam. The tourism trade representatives requested that since there are no tourists coming from outside, it would be good if administration would allow locals to visit Pahalgam. The representatives were informed that the Jammu & Kashmir tourism ... Read more

The wedding of Australians Tim Robertson and Kate Hamilton took place on Thursday at St Mary’s church in Gulmarg. It was the first in over three decades wedding bells ring at Kashmir’s oldest Protestant Church. The couple were adorned in traditional Indian attire; dozens of foreign skiers wearing Kashmiri Pherans were guests, local priests and snow all around. Tim Robertson and Kate Hamilton described their wedding as ‘nothing less than a fairy tale’, after the pictures shot at the snow-bound 100-year-old St. Mary’s Church were widely shared by local residents. Engaged for a year and fond of snowboarding, it took ... Read more

SATTE – photo from 2018 event Kashmir Tourism department is participating in a number of promotional events and exhibitions within and outside the country with a view to promote the tourism products of the state. As per a statement issued by the department on Monday, the department will showcase its tourism products at SATTE (South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange),  South Asia’s largest travel and tourism event, to be held from January 16- 18 at Greater Noida. The event will be followed by another Road Show at Pune on January 21, where the department will be interacting with the media ... Read more

As per a recent report by a parliamentary panel, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by the Center has a negative impact on the tourism sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The panel suggests reconsidering the indirect tax system in the tourism related activities of the state. The committee was headed by Rajya Sabha member Kanwar Deep Singh, who expressed concern at the declining tourism in the picturesque State, has asked the Government to hold talks with the countries which have issued advisories against travel to J&K. “It (GST) must be done in a cautious and phased manner in order ... Read more

As part of the incessant efforts of the state to lure tourists to the valley, the Kashmir tourism department has held road shows at Moscow and St Petersburg. Tasaduq Jeelani, Director Tourism, Kashmir, said that the responses from the tour operators were positive. “I personally talked to the heads of the travel trade from Moscow and St Petersburg, who assured that they would send groups to Jammu and Kashmir for holidays, especially for adventure and heritage tourism,” said Jeelani. Other than presentations, showcasing Jammu and Kashmir’s diverse culture, art and craft, breath-taking beauty of Kashir; few short films highlighting the ... Read more

The Department of Tourism Studies, Central University of Kashmir (CUK) celebrated “World Tourism Day” on 27th September 2018 at Gulmarg. The theme of this year’s World Tourism Day was ‘Tourism and Digital Transformation’. While addressing the gathering,  Syed Haneef Balkhi, Chief Executive Officer, Gulmarg Development Authority, congratulated the Department of Tourism Studies for celebrating the day at Gulmarg. He said the GDA is making tireless efforts to make Gulmarg polythene and garbage free. “We have established two waste treatment plants and the trash collected from the hotels and dustbins are treated there only. We are taking due care for environmental ... Read more

Vivek Lokur Vivek Lokur, a cyclist from Maharashtra has set off for an expedition on Tuesday, 25th September 2018, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to spread a positive message about Kashmir among tourists in the country. The event was flagged off by Tasaduq Jeelani, Tourism Director of Kashmir. “Vivek will work as an ambassador of Kashmir and spread the message that Kashmir is a safe place for travellers,” said Jeelani “We welcome such sports enthusiasts here and will provide them all assistance so as to facilitate their expeditions,” he added. Vivek, who works as an insurance company, said he chose to ... Read more

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched a scheme, ‘Viability Gap Scheme’ for exploiting and encouraging private investment in Tourism Sector on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. It was informed by the Secretary, Tourism Department, Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday . “Private companies intending to make investment under PPP mode can contact the office of Directorate of Tourism Jammu/Kashmir and Chief Executives Officer of various Development Authorities of Tourism Department,” said the Tourism Secretary. The scheme would involve investment in infrastructure used by tourists and earning revenue through levy of fee or user charges on the visitors. Revenue generating tourism ... Read more

Vaishno Devi Temple, Kashmir Tourism officials and private stakeholders have urged the Gujarati counterparts to visit Kashmir to alleviate the negative impressions about visiting Kashmir.  They were participating in the three-day Travel and Tourism Fair at Ahmedabad, as part of the country wide Kashmir tourism promotional campaign, which was started last week. The team was headed by Tasaduq Jeelani, Director, Tourism, Kashmir. They met tour operators and media persons and invited them to participate in the upcoming ‘Kashmir Paryatan Utsav’ scheduled from September 29 to October 1. “We highlighted the need for the media to play a constructive and positive ... Read more

Srinagar (Photo Courtesy: Lonely Planet) The Tourist Reception Center in Srinagar would be made a WiFi zone to provide free and easy internet access to the employees and the visitors. It was announced by Tasaduq Jeelani, Tourism Director of  Kashmir during his maiden meeting with the employees in his department on Thursday, 2nd August 2018 During the meeting, the director urged the employees to maintain the highest standards of professionalism while performing their works. While accentuating on the significance of tourism in the state, he told the employees to set a high benchmark and facilitate tourists, in order to provide ... Read more