There is some good news for the Kashmir valley’s tourism sector at a time when it is on the revival path. A replica of the summer capital’s famed tourist spot Tulip Garden will be set up at the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa next year.
As the Canadian festival draws tourists from all over the world, the stakeholders say this will introduce the Valley’s Tulip Garden to the international tourist and would then help attract visitors from all over the world.
“A replica of our Tulip Garden will be set up at the Canadian Tulip Festival in the coming spring. This festival in Canada draws tourists from all over the world and foreign tourists will thus come to know about our garden that is the largest of its kind in Asia,” said retired district floriculture officer Javed Ahmad Shah, who recently returned from Canada after representing the country at the World Tulip Summit Society (WTTS) meet.
Shah, who is considered an expert on tulips and had played a key role in setting up the Valley’s Tulip Garden, said the delegates at the summit were impressed with his presentation. “When I gave a presentation of our Tulip Garden at the summit, they were highly impressed with our garden and the efforts we had put in. Therefore, they assured that they would designate some space to set up its replica at the next Canadian Tulip Festival. This is great news not just for our Tulip Garden but the entire tourism sector,” Shah said.
He said the WTTS was also mulling over holding its biennial summit in the Valley in 2021. “If that happens, it will give a huge boost to our tourism sector across the globe. The 2019 summit is being held in Holland. The WTSS mission is to promote the tulip as a symbol of friendship and peace… and make use of the tulip as a means to promote international goodwill,” he added.
Shah had been invited by Turkey earlier this year and was tasked with preparing a report to suggest ways to boost commercial floriculture vis-à-vis tulips in Istanbul. He also serves as an expert on an advisory panel in Darjeeling for cultivation of tulips to boost tourism in the Northeast region.
Bloom time
- Kashmir’s Tulip Garden is located close to the famous Mughal garden, Cheshmashahi
- Popular among tourists and locals, the garden has nearly a million tulips
- Also a popular spot for shooting of films and television serials
- Open for a month in March-April, attracts over 1.5 lakh visitors
- Garden credited with having extended the tourism season in Kashmir
