Srinagar: Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez on Thursday said that tourism promotion is the priority of the government and steps are being taken to promote unexplored tourism destinations here.
He was speaking on the occasion of 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK) held in Srinagar.
At the AGM, scores of TASK members casted their votes to elect new members. As per the election results, Muhammad Akram Siah has been elected as president of TASK, Abdul Ahad Sheikh, vice president. Waseem Goosani, Maqsood Badyari , Muhammad Hanief Kawa have been elected as general secretary , joint secretary and treasurer respectively. In addition to this a nine member Managing committee was also elected. As per the rules, new office bearers will remain in office for tenure of 2-years.
Speaking on the occasion, Sarmad Hafeez congratulated TASK members for their service towards Kashmir’s tourism sector. He said that with joint efforts of the government along with tourism players will take new steps to uplift the tourism sector.
“Kashmir tourism has fought back despite several challenges. People associated with tourism have cooperated with the government to revive tourism despite Covid- like situation. Tourism continues to be the priority of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the union government. We will do everything to help stakeholders. Several steps have been initiated like holding over 70 events in the coming months and bringing less explored places on the map of J&K tourism. We will provide all the facilities like infrastructure and better road connectivity so that it will help tourism,” Hafeez said.
“Tourism department will ensure 100 percent vaccination of people associated with the tourism industry so that tourists can visit without any fear.”
The AGM was attended by many senior officials of the tourism department including Director Tourism Kashmir, G N Itoo, Deputy Director Tourism Ahsan Chesti among others.
Haseeb Khan, who was a member of the election monitoring team said that TASK held its election in a democratic atmosphere where 82 votes were cast to elect new office bearers.
Outgoing General Secretary of TASK, Ather Yameen said that the steps of the government to explore new places are vital to increasing tourist footfall. He said that to ensure good tourist flow and ease of doing business, the government will have to improve infrastructure and facilities for the tourism sector.
During the event, various members from tourism sectors were felicitated.