To bring back visitors to the Valley in large numbers, the Tourism Department has decided to host a series of events in the winter.
The tourism sector took a severe hit during the September floods last year. This year too, the arrivals have remained low, mainly due to bad weather.
To promote tourism, the government has sent a team to Austria to promote Gulmarg with the aim of attracting high-end European tourists interested in adventure sports activities such as heli-skiing.
In charge Director, Tourism, Mahmood Ahmad Shah said they were hopeful of a good tourist season this winter as several events were on the cards to attract visitors.
Shah said preparations were on and a team of officials had been sent to a ski festival in Austria to promote Gulmarg as a skiing destination. He said the focus would remain on promoting heli-skiing facilities at Gulmarg for the European tourists.
“We participated in the ski festival in Austria….We have heli-skiing going on for some time and we wanted to inform them that we have good heli-skiing facilities at Gulmarg. We are hopeful that a good number of tourists will come,” he said.
The Tourism Director said the winter tourism season mainly started from Christmas when snow usually fell. He said the Tourism Department would also hold a New Year gala at Gulmarg.
Besides, national skiing and snowboarding events will also be held to increase footfalls in the winter, he added.
Earlier this year, a flood scare on two occasions had forced cancellation of tourist bookings.
The tourism stakeholders had underscored the need for clearing the ‘negative image’ of Kashmir post the floods.The government with the support of private players held several events across the country this year to tell tourists that Kashmir was a ‘safe destination’.
The government also brought the country’s top Urdu poets to the Valley earlier this month to promote Kashmir tourism in a novel way. The authorities are hoping that the poets would act as the ‘ambassadors’ of Kashmir tourism and entice visitors to the Valley through their poetic lines.
To promote Kashmir tourism through Bollywood, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed met several actors, producers and directors in Mumbai recently and invited them to shoot movies in the Valley.
Post floods, Valley aims for more tourist footfalls this winter
