Srinagar, Jan 28: Minister for Tourism and Culture, Nawang Rigzin Jora today stressed that J&K needed to be promoted aggressively as a tourism destination across the globe.
He said the tourism sector had been hit hard by the recent unrest. However, he added that still in 2010 around 11 lakh tourists (including pilgrims) visited Kashmir Valley, 80,000 to Ladakh, and 87 lakh pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.
The minister reaffirmed the commitment of the government to make J&K as the premier tourist destination of the country.
The minister was speaking at the 18th Edition of SATTE (India’s largest and premier B2B Tourism Exhibition), which was inaugurated today at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
The function was chaired by Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Tourism Minister and attended by Salman Khursheed, Union Minister for Water Resources and Minority Affairs. Jora represented the state on the occasion, an official statement said.
J&K Tourism Department’s calendar for 2011 was also released on the occasion with the theme ‘Adventure.’
The minister said the calendar is aimed to exploit the adventure potential of the state.
Union Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahay was felicitated on the occasion by Jora by presenting him a memento on behalf of J&K.
Later, the Union Tourism Minister visited the J&K Tourism Stall and had a long interaction with the tourism players of the state.
He was invited by the President Houseboat Owners Association to visit J&K. The union minister accepted the invite by Jora.
Commissioner/Secretary Tourism & Culture, J&K, Atal Dulloo; Director Tourism, Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Shah and Director Tourism, Jammu, R K Varma  were also present on the occasion .
Meanwhile, the J&K Tourism Stall was visited by a number of domestic and international buyers who interacted with the tourism players from all three regions of the state.
The J&K Tourism Department also organized an impressive musical concert at the inaugural function which was thoroughly enjoyed by the invitees.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST