JK Tourism growth looks promising after Malaysia and Thailand get special focus

The Department of Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir is soon going to focus on Thailand and Malaysia in order to increase J&K Tourism growth. The two countries have been selected after Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a sizeable number of visitors from the two.
After holding a meeting with the project stakeholders, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has asked the tourism department of Jammu and Kashmir to work towards the common goal of increasing tourist footfall. The department has planned several promotional activities for the next two months. There are 25 other states that the tourism department would like to target.

Mahmood A Shah, Director Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir, said in a statement that Malaysia and Thailand contribute massively to the state’s foreign arrival, and that they would like to have advisories in these countries to reach their target. Of the two countries, Malaysia stand first in terms of foreign footfall, followed by Thailand. The promotional activities related to this are being organised with the help of Travel Trade Federation (TTF). The activities are put in place specifically to counter the negative impression on Kashmir.
“The promotional activities would essentially include road shows, which we have been organizing since last many years. Last year we held some 10-15 shows in India only. A negative perception is prevailing about Kashmir in outside states. People often feel that Kashmir was like Syria. So we need to visit to these places to ​showcase our destination and products,” he said.


A total of 25 road shows are being planned in the next two month, and these will be held in India and abroad. Some of the Indian states and cities that being looked at for the road shows are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Nagpur.

The move to begin travel promotions comes after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked the Union Government last month to transform Srinagar International Airport into an airport for direct flights to and from ASEAN countries. This request was placed by keeping tourism growth in mind.