Published on : Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Even as the travel and tourism industry welcomed the Centre’s move to separate Jammu & Kashmir from Ladakh and to make the two regions separate Union Territories, it’s a long road ahead in terms of development.
Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said that the body, which represents the hospitality and tourism sector, welcomed the government’s move because tourism contributes about 15 per cent to state GDP.
Kohli said, “despite Kashmir ticking all the right boxes as a hospitality and tourism magnet, the industry’s presence and business in the state is dismal.”
Talking about the impact of the security situation in Kashmir and its impact on the sector, Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com said, “The situation in Kashmir will have a short- to medium-term impact on the number of people travelling to the valley. Many tourists and groups have cancelled their trip after the government issued an advisory last week. Travellers are now looking at alternate destinations like Manali, Shukla, Kerala, Ooty, Goa, Mcleodganj, Kasauli among other hill stations.”
Commenting on the government’s move, Nishant Pitti, Co-Founder & CEO, EaseMyTrip said that a “virtual barrier can be put to rest”. “With a rising hope that novel initiatives would be taken to elevate the current tourism graph to greater heights leading to better employment opportunities within the tourism and allied sectors,” he said.