Gear up for winter tourism

The winter season is approaching in the valley and it is the time when the people from different parts of the country and from foreign countries visit here to enjoy the snowfall and take part in different activities including skiing as well. The tourism players are expecting a massive footfall of tourists in the upcoming season of winters here like the previous year in which a record break footfall of tourists was witnessed in Jammu & Kashmir. This year, the government is expecting to break the previous year’s record as well, but such a target cannot be achieved until and unless a massive promotion is done at different levels, which would help attract the tourists towards Jammu & Kashmir. In the previous year, the tourist footfall of 1.80 crore tourists was recorded in Jammu & Kashmir, which was for the first time witnessed in the Union Territory in the last seven decades. But while aspiring to break the records, the concerned department needs to pull up the socks and make the arrangements to receive the guests from outside J&K. There is a need to come up with special events this year and organize sports events at different winter destinations so that more and more tourists as well as the sports lovers will visit here, which would help the tourism players to earn their livelihood. The concerned department should coordinate with the tourism players and make plans to gear up for the tourism boom in Jammu & Kashmir, especially in the valley here for the winter season.