Over 2L tourists from Pune visited J&K in 2011

PUNE: In the last one year, the city accounted for almost 40% of six lakh tourists from the state visiting Jammu & Kashmir, prompting J&K to offer bigger and better tourism opportunities to Pune and Maharashtra, said director of Jammu & Kashmir tourism, Farooq Shah here on Monday.
He was in the city to discuss opportunities for the forthcoming tourist season with tour operators."Jammu & Kashmir has bounced back and repositioned itself as the foremost tourist destination in the country. Last year, it received around 13 lakh domestic tourists, the highest yet. This year, we hope to see this figure doubled," Shah added.
Around 25 tour operators participated in the meeting organised in association with the city-based NGO Sarhad.
"Since 2006, J&K has been receiving maximum number of tourists from Maharashtra, particularly Pune, followed by Gujarat and West Bengal. Among the 13 lakh tourists, who visited the state last year, about one-third were from Maharashtra," said Shah, whose visit is aimed at garnering an enthusiastic response from local tour operators.
"We want to focus on Pune and its adjoining regions and cities, because it's a very good tourism market for J&K. Lots of people from these regions want to visit our state. Our domestic market is quite huge with approximately 16 crore tourists within India. It would benefit J&K even to receive about 5% of this number," he said.
Based on the numbers registered last year, Shah said the state has no competitors as far as the tourism industry is concerned. Jammu is famous for pilgrim tourism with the Vaishno Devi temple receiving one crore pilgrims in 2011, the highest number of tourists yet. Ladakh is known for adventure tourism and received two lakh tourists last year, and Kashmir is a shoppers' paradise. The Gulmarg ski resort is the best in India," he said.
The upswing in J&K's popularity among tourists has been steady. "In 2010, we had only six lakh domestic tourists. In 2011, the number went up to 13 lakh. The state has a huge tourism potential as this sector can provide employment to about 70% of J&K's population," Shah said.
Private-public partnership is being encouraged to develop J&K's tourism potential with better roads, connectivity, power and accommodation. "We are the only state that has around 20 development authorities and all tourist spots have been put under these authorities for complete development. This includes preparation of master plans for water supply and other facilities. This is because, from the government's side, we don't want to make hotels and restaurants. We want the private sector to flourish. We are focusing on connectivity and all the roads leading to existing famous resorts are being upgraded: right from Srinagar to Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahalgam and other destinations. Wayside facilities like public convenience, restaurants and resting places are also being spruced up," Shah said.
Currently, 22 daily flights provide air connectivity to J&K. Trade within J&K is also being regulated to boost safe tourism. "We want our connectivity to improve. We are the only state that has its own Tourist Trade Act, and have our own tourism police. Tourist-related matters are resolved within three hours. Most importantly, Jammu & Kashmir is safe. People should trust us and visit us more often," Shah said.