To strengthen and refresh the age-old bond between J&K and Gujarat, the J&K Tourism Department Thursday held a road show at Ahmadabad as part of its promotional campaigns across the country to attract tourists.
Director Tourism Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Itoo led the delegation of the representatives of local travel and hospitality sector for the promotion of the J&K’s vast tourism potential and invited travellers to J&K.
Leading tourism operators, travel agents and destination management companies besides regional and national media were invited at the promotional evening on Thursday who networked with the J&K’s travel agents for business opportunities and promotion of the varied tourism products.
Appreciating the travel fraternity from the western coast of India for their continued promotion of Kashmir in travel packages, Director Tourism Kashmir said Gujarat had remained one of the major markets where from a large number of travellers visit J&K.
In his detailed PowerPoint and video presentation, Itoo highlighted the steps taken by the J&K government in mitigating the COVID-19 threats and assuring safe journey for the travellers with the implementation of the set SOPs and guidelines.
He assured them that Kashmir is safe for tourism activities and hundreds of tourists were already enjoying their holidays at prime resorts like Gulmarg, Srinagar and Pahalgam.
The Director Tourism also highlighted the huge participation of over 2000 athletes and players in the recently-concluded 2nd Khelo India National Winter Games which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narindra Modi virtually.
He informed them that the J&K government and Government of India had already taken up with the airlines the direct flights to Srinagar from major cities including Ahmadabad to facilitate easy connectivity between the regions.
Various short films on known and off-beat destinations were also screened on the occasion.
The J&K Tourism Department also held a separate media interaction in which representatives from over 50 popular media houses attended and interacted with travel fraternity from J&K.
During the interaction, the media was also briefed about various steps that the J&K administration had taken to ensure travelers’ safety post COVID-19 pandemic.
They were also informed of various promotion activities conducted and the upcoming events and festivals so that travellers could align their tour programmes as per the festivals.
The travel show was organised in collaboration with J&K Pilgrim and Leisure Tour Operators Forum.
Additional Secretary Tourism Waseem Raja, CEO Tourism Development Authorities, Mansar Gurvinder Jeet Singh were also present on the occasion.
Chairman PILTOF Showkat Pakthoon besides various office bearers of the forum who were present on the occasion had a fruitful interaction with their counterparts.
Ajay Modi, a leading travel agent from Gujarat, hailed the efforts of J&K Tourism in opening the region for tourism activities.
He said J&K was one of the prime destinations of the country where travellers always return with beautiful memories.
The department has already organised several shows at other major cities including Kolkata, Pune, Puri, Jaipur and Amritsar.
The department would also organise more road shows in Bhubaneswar, Bhopal and Bangalore on March 6 followed by Indore on March 8, Chennai on March 12, Raipur Varanasi and Lucknow on March 13, Nagpur on March 17, Mumbai and Hyderabad on March 19, Delhi on March 25, Cochin on March 26 and Mysore on March 27.
Besides it would also participate in major travel marts like OTM and SATEE as part of its aggressive marketing campaign.