TOURIST ARRIVALS IN 2010: J&K not among top 10 states

TOURIST ARRIVALS IN 2010
J&K not among top 10 states
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 21
Though the Jammu and Kashmir government is trying hard to attract tourists, the state has not secured any position among the top 10 states of the country in terms of either foreign or domestic tourist arrivals in 2010.

A statement issued by the Union Ministry of Tourism on Monday stated that Andhra Pradesh got the top position in domestic tourist arrivals with 155.8 million tourists visiting the state in 2010. Similarly, Maharashtra achieved the top position in foreign tourist arrivals with 5.1 million tourists visiting the state in 2010.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone, Farooq Ahmed Shah, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, said, “We are getting a good number of domestic tourists. But the number of foreign tourists is not much, which is due to militancy-related incidents”.

“A few countries have issued adverse travel advisories asking their citizens to avoid visiting the state. That’s why the foreign tourist arrivals are less. Moreover, a large number of foreign tourists have moved to Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala, as some countries do not provide insurance cover to their citizens while they are in Jammu and Kashmir,” added Shah.

He said the department was keen to promote tourism and it had recently conducted road shows in London, Berlin, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. “We got a good response there and are hopeful of getting more tourists from the countries,” Shah said. The Tourism Department’s efforts were yielding good results.

The number of Amarnath yatris had already crossed last year’s figure of 4.58 lakh. The Mata Vaishno Devi yatra was also expected to cross the figure of 90 lakh pilgrims this year, the department added.

However, local tour and travel agents blame the state government and its policies for not getting a large number of tourists, especially foreigners.

“Though the government is happy in view of peace this summer,when it comes to competitiveness,it needs to cover a lot of lost ground. The budget for this purpose should be increased and tourists should be provided more security,” said Aijaz Bhat, a local tour and travel agent.

Courtesy: The Tribune