Kashmir’s lavender fields drew 25 lakh tourists: Union Tourism Minister

Srinagar, Aug 07: Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Wednesday said 25 lakh people had visited Kashmir in the recent past just to catch a glimpse of the purple revolution.

Presiding over the 25th Annual National Convention of Tourist Guides Federation of India organised at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, the Union Minister made a mention of lavender cultivation in south Kashmir and said that 25 lakh people had visited Kashmir in the recent past just to catch a glimpse of the scented purple fields.

Speaking as chief guest on the occasion, he said that Kashmir had witnessed a more than 15 percent increase in the footfall of tourists since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shekhawat said that popular tourist destinations were witnessing a huge rush of visitors and it was necessary to divert both domestic and foreign tourists towards virgin and offbeat destinations.

He said that India had witnessed a boom in domestic tourism post the COVID-19 pandemic and the tourism industry as a whole needed to prepare itself for the growing volume of tourists across the country.

The union minister said that in times of advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI), customers had all relevant information on their screens in a span of a few minutes and the stakeholders of the tourism sector needed to be prepared to meet all demands of tourists.

He said that service providers had to be ready to deliver other than what was available on the internet.

Shekhawat said that the tourism industry had undergone a paradigm shift and people were migrating from monumental tourism to experiential tourism.

He said that the Ministry of Tourism had introduced changes in policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet the challenges of the current times.

Talking about the factors that affect tourist activity, the union minister said that tourism was the first casualty of economic slowdown and things like recession and geopolitical tensions badly affect the sector.

He said that the growth of economic activity and phenomena like the eradication of poverty and the growth of the middle class had a positive impact on tourism.

Shekhawat said that the pressure on the tourism sector was going to be immense in the coming times as India was poised to be the third-largest economy in the world.

He said that all those associated with the sector would need to pull up their socks to deal with the situation.

The union minister said that India had everything to offer to tourists and should no longer be a seasonal destination.

He said that there was a need to target inbound tourists to meet this demand and inputs and feedback from the local players would help a great deal in achieving this.

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Suman Billa, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Later, the Union Minister Shekhawat presided over a review meeting of the Department of Tourism in Kashmir.

Commissioner Secretary Tourism, J&K government, Yasha Mudgal conducted the proceedings of the meeting.

Mudgal gave a detailed presentation regarding the tourism scenario in J&K.

She said that the tourism sector generates around Rs 17,000 crores annually which comes to around 8 percent of the GDP of J&K.

The minister was also briefed about various ongoing and completed tourism-related projects undertaken by the Department of Tourism.

Union Minister Shekhawat expressed satisfaction over the works being done and stressed upon the setting up of a feedback mechanism to evaluate the impact of the works being undertaken.

He also released the first edition of the Department of Tourism J&K’s newsletter ‘J&K Vista’.