Underlining commitment of the government to develop Patnitop-Sanasar circle as a major tourist destination of the state, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, Floriculture and Parks Priya Sethi said that Jammu region has tremendous tourism potential and concerted efforts are afoot to develop different tourist circles of the region."We are steadfast on our resolve to promote tourism in the region and with active support from the Central government the tourism potential would be explored to its fullest," she added.Priya said this during a meeting held at Patnitop here today. Officers of Tourism department, JKTDC, Patnitop Development Authority and other stake holders related with tourism industry were present in the meeting.The Minister who was on a two day tour of the Patnitop-Sansar area inspected existing tourist infrastructure created in the area and directed the concerned to take adequate steps to improve these facilities.
She toured Kud, Patnitop and Sanasar tourist destinations and interacted with hoteliers, tour operators and other stake holders of tourism sector .While reviewing the tourism related activities at world famous tourist destination Patnitop, Priya enjoined upon PDA authorities to work towards creating better facilities for the visiting tourists and ensure that the tourists have a great touring experience . She said multi-pronged approach needs to be followed by involving different stake holders to ensure holistic development of the spot.She also listened to the issues raised by the PDA and assured that all steps would be taken to improve its functioning. She directed the authorities to install proper signage, print sufficient tourist brochures, create entertainment facilities like toy train, museum, amusement park and other such infrastructure at different tourist spots to attract tourists. "Patnitop, Sansar, Mantalai and Sudh Mahadev are among those tourist spots which have huge potential and the government would ensure that better facilities are created to boost tourism in the destinations," she added.While inspecting the Patnitop club building, the Minister expressed concern on the present condition of the club and directed for proper upkeep of the building and asked to refurbish the building to meet the nees of tourists and stressed that options should be explored for operating the club on PPP mode.
She also visited the newly constructed Tourist Information Centre and inspected the facilities made available to the tourists.Priya also directed for giving impetus to the horticulture produce of the area and creating better facilities for storage, transportation and marketing of vegetables, fruits and other produce of the area.The Minister also visited Sanasar and inspected various tourist facilities created by the tourism department in the picturesque resort. She directed for exploiting adventure sports and mountaineering potential of the tourist resort and called upon the authorities to develop the spot as a major golf centre of the area."Nature has bestowed this region with beautiful landscapes, planes, valleys and river fronts, now we have to put in collective efforts to develop and popularize these tourist destinations," she added.