Owais Gul
Srinagar, Jul 9: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the tourism sector is once again getting revived in Jammu & Kashmir and number of tourists visiting the Union Territory is increasing with each passing day.
Talking to the reporters in West Bengal where he is scheduled to attend the Tourism Fair, Omar said, “Things are not as bad as you are describing. A good number of tourists are returning to the region. The Amarnath Yatra has also commenced a few days back and a good number of devotees too are visiting the holy cave shrine via two routes. They (devotees) are happy with the situation there,” he said.
Omar further added that he has come to Kolkata to participate in the Tourism Fair. “We want a good number of people from West Bengal to visit Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Pertinently, the tourism activities have once again gained pace amidst the ongoing Amarnath Yatra with the Commissioner Secretary Tourism, Yasha Mudgal yesterday asserting that the sector is reviving again and last year’s figures will be matched soon.
She was talking to the reporters on the sidelines of the two-day National Secretaries Conference, held at SKICC here in which the tourism secretaries from all the states and union territories participated.
During the conference, the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had on Tuesday termed the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 civilians dead, as an “Amavas ki kali raat” (a dark night of no moon), stating that while the tragedy was painful, the nation must look ahead and move forward with resilience and unity.
Addressing a Tourism Secretaries’ Meet of Union Territories here, Shekhawat had said, “We must not let one dark night define the future. We have to forget the Pahalgam terror attack as ‘Amavas ki kali raat’ and focus on building a brighter tomorrow.”
