Govt committed to take J&K tourism to new heights: Abid Rasheed

Srinagar, Apr 27: As part of his stakeholder consultations, Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Syed Abid Rasheed Shah Thursday held a marathon interactive session with representatives of various segments of the local tourism industry represented by KHARA-KHAROF coordination committee here.
Complimenting the stakeholders on the beginning of a good tourism season, the Tourism Secretary hoped that it would lead to a bumper season of tourist arrivals breaking all previous records. He said this would be achieved only through a synergized approach between the Department and the stakeholders, stressing on close coordination between the two.
Secretary Tourism said Government has accorded top priority to further develop the tourism sector in the UT and it would be his endeavour to see it scaling new heights. He said all requisite measures would be taken for the purpose.
Responding to the issues raised by various stakeholders, Syed Abid Rasheed said he has already directed easing of various processes related to regulation of tourism services and the same would be monitored in days to come. He said an annual calendar of activities is being framed by the Department for giving the tourists ample and varied experiences.
The issues raised by the representatives of stakeholders included ease of doing business, establishment of common STPs, consideration of power tariff under MSME, periodic and regular promotion of J&K tourism in the country’s domestic market and abroad, determining hotel tariffs and other issues.
Secretary Tourism assured the stakeholder that the issues would be given a considerate thought by the Government and would be sympathetically looked into.
Earlier, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Fazlul Haseeb briefed the meeting about various measures being taken by the Department for the betterment of tourism scenario and stakeholders.