Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of Rs 2,241-crore package for the tourism sector has failed to enthuse stakeholders in the Kashmir valley.
They said the announcement made by Modi yesterday dealt with the long-term development of the tourism sector, but the present issues facing the industry were not addressed.
“The package mainly deals with long-term projects. There was no mention of any short-term or immediate compensation for the flood-hit tourism sector,” said Nasir Shah, coordinator, Tours and Travel Bodies and former chairman of the J&K Tourism Alliance.
Shah said the floods in September last year had dented the tourism sector and a separate comprehensive package should have been announced in this regard.
“After floods, we suffered huge losses. The package has got nothing for us. Long-term measures are fine, but the flood affected tourism sector needs a separate comprehensive package for the short term,” he said.
Shah said “strong funding” was required for promotional activities for Kashmir tourism so that tourist returned to the Valley in large numbers.
Secretary general, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and former president, Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners Federation, Faiz Bakshi also said nothing was announced to deal with the damages suffered to the existing tourism infrastructure.
“The package only talks about new projects. There is no mention of damages to the present tourism infrastructure and business losses due to the last year’s floods,” Bakshi said.
He said the package should have first taken care of damages to the existing tourism infrastructure and then embarked upon setting up of new projects. “Unfortunately, our repeated demands for announcement of a comprehensive package for business losses and damages to the tourism sector after last year’s floods have been ignored,” Bakshi said.
The Rs 2,241-crore package deals with the setting up of new projects, tourist circuits and 50 tourist villages.
