Dubai, Aug 05: In an attempt to regain its position as India's premier tourism destination, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in tandem with the Centre will dispatch a delegation to Gulf countries, making a pitch for the tourism potential of the state. A high-powered delegation led by Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan and state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed would visit Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait in the first week of October according a tentative itinerary, Prakash Jajoria, regional director, India tourism said here.
Kashmir received nearly 7,000 tourists in the past year and the government is keen to promote the valley in a big way among the high spending Arabs, Jajoria said.
Jajoria, who took charge recently, said the promotion of Sikkim as a destination for adventure tourism will also be high on Jagmohan's agenda.
India gets only 0.38 per cent of world tourists annually and the number of foreign tourists last year was 2.3 million.
Jajoria said visa on arrival, competitive air fares and improved infrastructure were among issues being addressed by the Central government to boost tourist flow.
The International Tourism and Travel Mart (ITTM) to be held in New Delhi in September has generated substantial interest in the Gulf and the buyer-seller meet there is expected to give a fillip to tourism in India, he said.
The government's efforts to promote tourism has paid off in states like Kerala and Goa with the active support of state governments and tourism inflow as whole had registered 27 per cent growth in June this year compared to the same period last year.
Bureau Report