Gujarat Tourism has announced major tie-ups with Jammu and Kashmir Tourism at J&K Road Show held on the sidelines of India Travel Mart (ITM) this evening at Ahmedabad to showcase the tourist destinations of three regions Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.Commissioner Gujarat Tourism, Nityanand Srivastav, said that Gujarat Government would soon approve an improved LTC package for all employees in Gujarat State and the guidelines would cover J&K. He added that Gujarat Tourism would enter into a special Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with J&K Tourism to boost tourism related activities. Shri Srivastav also offered to enter into special arrangement with all the Golf Courses of the State through J&K Tourism so that high-spending tourists who are members of various Golf Clubs in Gujarat come on special Golf circuits to enjoy the sport. The urgent need for starting direct flights between Ahmadabad and Srinagar was agreed to be pursued jointly by both the State Governments with the concerned quarters.
Pertinently, J&K Tourism delegation, led by Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Principal Secretary to Govt, Tourism Department was comprised of Er. S. K. Attri, Deputy Director Tourism Jammu, Mr. Mohammad Shafi Kakroo, Deputy Director Tourism Kashmir and representatives of travel trade associations of the three regions of the State.The Road Show was attended by almost all major trade and travel business houses of Gujarat, print and electronic media representatives, in addition to senior officers from the State Government of Gujarat.S Aparna, Principal Secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister, Mukesh Puri, Principal Secretary, PHE, B.B. Swain, Principal Secretary Industries; Anuradha Makwana, Principal Secretary Social Welfare, Sanjay Nanadan, Principal Secretary Fisheries, Dinesh Awasthi, Director EDI, Dewang Shah, President All Gujarat Golf Course Owners Association and Basant Kumar General Manager ONGC were among the dignitaries who attended the J&K Road Show.
Colourful multimedia presentations on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh showcasing different tourist products were made during the road show.Nayak, while speaking on the occasion, said Gujarat contributes major chunk of tourist influx to J&K and the purpose of the road show was to make Gujratis aware of the new tourists circuits developed in the state besides various modern facilities put in place to cater to the needs of all categories of tourists from budgeted to high end.He specifically mentioned about the excellent tourist infrastructure across the State both in Government and in private sector, with particular emphasis on MICE, Golf, Adventure, Pilgrim, Leisure and Heritage Tourism. He also said that J&K Tourism would be interested in working closely with Gujarat Tourism to boost tourist traffic to J&K.A demand to set up Summer Camps across the State was expressed by the participants at the road show besides destination wedding was also demanded to be facilitated by J&K Tourism.