The J&K Tourism Department has walked away with the Group Participation Award at the award ceremony of the 3-day Travel Trade Fair (TTF) which concluded on Sunday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.Over 20 travel agents and hoteliers from Jammu & Kashmir had participated in the travel mart which began on July 7, 2017.Deputy Director Tourism Kashmir (Publicity), Peerzada Zahoor, Assistant Director Tourism Jammu, Ropali Mahajan, and Manager JKTDC Delhi, C B Koul, received the award from the Goa Tourism Minister, Manohar Ajgaonkar, who was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony.Pertinently, TTF is one of the largest travel trade shows in India providing an annual marketing platform and opportunity to network with the travel trade in all major cities. More than 2,500 exhibitors’ from28 tourism boards and States besides 12 countries have participated in the TTF making its one of the main platforms for showcasing State’s tourism products.Department of Tourism J&K had extensively decorated its stall space showcasing the tourism products of all three regions of the State. Travel agents frrm all the regions of the State participated to attract travelers to the State.
Director Tourism Kashmir, Mahmood A Shah, said the Department is providing a group space to the travel agents and hoteliers from the State who try to motivate travel agents to promote Kashmir.“This year lesser number tourists visited Kashmir due to negative portrayal of the Valley by a section of the media. We have to do aggressive marketing to get maximum tourists to Kashmir and the Tourism Department is making all out efforts trying to dispel negative perception by participating in such travel marts,” the Director said.He said the Department is going to organize Gurez, Kargil, Apple, Saffron and Bangus festivals to promote tourism products.On the last day of the tourism fair on Sunday, the J&K Tourism Development Corporation generated business to the tune of around 2 lakh rupees because of its efforts during the first two days to clear the misconception among the travelers about Kashmir.The Director added the Department is expecting a good tourist flow to Kashmir from West Bengal in the coming months.