The hoteliers and leading tour and travel companies in Kashmir Friday said the recently launched chopper service will attract high-end tourists to Kashmir.
At a round-table conference held at a local hotel here, the travel trade fraternity welcomed the initiation of the service by the government saying it would help attract high-end tourists to the Valley.The tourism traders hailed the chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed for this “great initiative”. They also praised Secretary Tourism, Farooq A Shah for “his role.”
Mehmood Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism Kashmir on the occasion said: “Almost every place, except Jammu and Kashmir, was having helicopter facility for the tourists. Now with the help of Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, this service is available in Kashmir too but it is our duty now to promote it in a big way.”
“With this service the tourists can enjoy aerial look of whole Srinagar,” he said.
Valley hoteliers and tour operators present at the round-table assured the Director Tourism their full support.
“We are ready to provide helicopter services to the tourist. In fact, we were waiting for the green signal from JKTDC so that we can sell more and more tickets for the upcoming new year,” they said.
Presently the chopper service is being made available between Srinagar to Pahalgam and Srinagar to Gulmarg along with an aerial tour around the Srinagar city.
Speaking at the event, Asif Burza, Director, Ahad Hotels said the hoteliers were receiving number of queries about the chopper service.
“Eight chopper safaris have already been undertaken since its launch. Some hoteliers have already started including hopper rides in their packages,” Burza said.
Director Tourism Kashmir, Mehmood Ahmad Shah, said that to begin with one chopper has been pressed into the service.
He said more choppers would be added as the demand “grows especially in June, July and August when there remains a huge rush for Amarnath pilgrims.”
“JKTDC has publicized the service at national level and we hope it would help increase the overall tourist flow in Kashmir,” Shah said.
