The third Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20 was inaugurated in Srinagar by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday.
The LG said that under India’s G20 Presidency, the G20 tourism working group is focusing on five inter-connected priority areas that will provide a roadmap for tourism as a tool for achieving sustainable development goals.
The inaugural session was attended by MoS PMO Jitendra Singh, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and MoS for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt. The inaugural ceremony was attended by the delegates of G20 nations, international organisations and invited countries.
Sinha further said that Jammu and Kashmir will soon find a place in the top 50 destinations in the world and will be on the travel bucket list of global travellers.
Jammu and Kashmir is developing the country’s largest book village on the banks of Wular Lake with an aim to make the countryside and popular destinations more sustainable and preserve the beauty of fascinating heritage sites, he emphasized.
The meeting also focuses on film tourism in India which can benefit filmmakers in Kashmir. Many Bollywood movies would be incomplete without a scene from Kashmir prior to the 1990s.
“After a long pause of almost four decades, J&K has revived the relationship with Bollywood and launched a film policy in 2021 to attract more investment into the film sector and to make Jammu Kashmir the most popular film shooting destination,” the LG said.
The government said that they have ensured that the transition in the tourism sector in the backdrop of the pandemic focuses on the needs of travellers and the interests of industry stakeholders, creates employment opportunities and promotes environmental awareness.
Though there has been controversy about the G20 logo by the Congress and PDP, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the logo and the theme together convey a powerful message of India’s G20 Presidency, which is of striving for just and equitable growth for all in the world.
Speaking during the inaugural session, Reddy said the Ministry of Tourism is keen to work with G20 nations to promote sustainable tourism in India and around the world.
“Significant progress has been made in the five key priority areas under the 3rd Tourism Working Group Meeting namely Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, MSMEs and Destination Management. These priorities are key building blocks for accelerating the transition of the tourism sector and achieving the targets for 2030 SDGs,” he emphasised.
Speaking to News18, G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant said commendable progress has been made in the five key priority areas. “This location is better than Davos and why not come here? The event will open a big window for upmarket tourists from these countries. Delegates are excited and this is the biggest number we have got anywhere so far,” he said.
He said that the tourism sector has a very critical role to play in Kashmir and there was a need for more hotels.