Srinagar, August 07: Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said more than 2.5 million people have visited the valley in the recent past.
“The region has witnessed a more than 15 percent increase in the number of footfalls since the end of the pandemic. More than 2.5 million people have visited the valley in the recent past just to catch a glimpse of lavender cultivation,” he said.
He said that popular tourist destinations are witnessing a huge rush of visitors and it is therefore necessary to divert both domestic and foreign tourists towards virgin and offbeat destinations.
He was presiding over the 25th Annual National Convention of the Tourist Guides Federation of India organized at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, Srinagar.
Speaking as Chief Guest on the occasion, Shekhawat said that India has witnessed a boom in domestic tourism post the COVID-19 pandemic, and the tourism industry as a whole needs to prepare itself for the growing volume of tourists across the country.
Shekhawat said that in times of advanced technologies and AI, customers have all relevant information on their screens in a span of a few minutes and the stakeholders of the tourism sector need to be prepared to meet all demands of tourists. He further said that service providers have to be ready to deliver other than what is available on the internet.
The Minister said that the tourism industry has undergone a paradigm shift and people are migrating from monumental tourism to experiential tourism. He added that the Ministry of Tourism has introduced changes in policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet the challenges of the current times.
Talking about the factors that affect tourist activity, he said that tourism is the first casualty of economic slowdown and things like recession and geopolitical tensions badly affect the sector. He said that the growth of economic activity and phenomena like the eradication of poverty and the growth of the middle class have a positive impact on tourism.
The Minister said that the pressure on the tourism sector is going to be immense in the coming times as India is poised to be the third-largest economy in the world. He said that all those associated with the sector will need to pull up their socks to deal with the situation.
Shekhawat said that India has everything to offer to tourists and should no longer be a seasonal destination. He said that there is a need to target inbound tourists to meet this demand and inputs and feedback from the local players will help a great deal in achieving this.
Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism was the Guest of Honour on the occasion.
Later, the Minister presided over a review meeting of the Department of Tourism in Kashmir. Smt Yasha Mudgal, Commissioner Secretary Tourism, Govt of J&K conducted the proceedings of the meeting.
Mudgal gave a detailed presentation regarding the tourism scenario in J&K. She said that the tourism sector generates around Rs 17,000 Crores annually which comes to around eight percent of the GDP of the UT.
The Minister was also briefed about various ongoing and completed tourism-related projects undertaken by the Department of Tourism. He expressed satisfaction with the work being done and stressed the setting up of a feedback mechanism to evaluate the impact of the work being undertaken.
Shekhawat also released the first edition of the Department of Tourism J&K’s newsletter “J&K Vista” on the occasion.
