Over 1 Cr tourists visited J&K in 6 months: Centre

Srinagar, July 24: The Centre said on Wednesday that over one crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir till June 2024.

Replying to a question in Parliament, Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State for Home, said that the tourism sector in the union territory has witnessed unprecedented growth post-abrogation of Article 370.

He said that 34,70,834 tourists visited J&K in 2020 and since then there has been a consistent rise in the numbers.

In 2021, the number was 1,13,14,884 followed by 1,88,64,332 in 2022.

Last year the number rose to 2,11,24,874; and till June this year, 1,08,41,009 tourists have visited the UT.

“The government of Jammu and Kashmir has reported that several measures have been taken that led to significant improvement in tourism, including Tourism Policy 2020 and status of industry to the tourism sector for availing incentives under the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy 2021”, the MoS said.

After the overall improvement in the law and order situation, J& K has been witnessing a tourist boom for the last four years and this has helped the livelihood of thousands of people connected directly or indirectly with this industry.

Other measures comprise availing of incentives under the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy- 2021 considering the status of industry to the tourism sector in the Union Territory.

The government also notified the homestay guidelines to accommodate the increasing number of tourists and to give benefits to the locals from the economic gains of the tourism sector.

The Minister said the government has also notified Jammu and Kashmir Film Policy-2021, and Houseboat Policy-2020, identified 75 off-beat destinations.

Border tourism has picked up in Jammu and Kashmir and hitherto unknown locations have been opened up for tourism like Gurez, Keran, Teetwal and R.S. Pura, and the Union Territory is also emerging in adventure and Golf tourism, said Rai in the reply.

“The government of Jammu and Kashmir has undertaken various infrastructure projects to boost the tourism sector and it also is emerging as an international tourist destination after successful hosting of major events such as the 3rd G-20 Tourism Working Group Meeting,” Rai said.

Modern infrastructure and the growing number of luxury hotels and resorts make Jammu and Kashmir a prime location for destination weddings and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism, he said.

“The government of Jammu and Kashmir has reported that due to the above initiatives, the contribution of Tourism in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has increased from 7.84 per cent in FY 2019-20 to 8.47 per cent in Financial Year 2022-23,” added the Minister.

Tourism sector has recorded an annual average growth rate of 15.13 percent during the last three years.