Date:17/02/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/02/17/stories/2005021701631700.htm

Back Post-poll violence won't hit J&K tourism: Minister

Our Bureau

The Tourism Department was out on a mission to "remove the fear psychosis" and assured tourists that Kashmir was a safe place.

Ahmedabad , Feb. 16

THE recent spurt in violence after the municipal elections in the Kashmir Valley is not likely to dent tourism inflows to the Himalayan State, which is aggressively promoting itself as a popular destination.

"Tourist arrivals has seen a sharp uptrend in the last three years. From a mere 27,000 domestic tourists to the Kashmir Valley in 2002, the number has risen to 3.6 lakh last year.

This year, we hope that the number will continue its upward trend," the State Tourism Minister, Mr Gulam Hassan Mir, told Business Line here.

The number of foreign tourists visiting the Kashmir Valley has also risen from a 2,686 to 18,834 in the last two years.

Asked if the recent violent incidents, including the gunning down of a couple of newly elected councillors, would hurt the tourism sector, the Minister said: "The killing, although unfortunate, was expected. The terrorists have been frustrated by the successful civic elections and are now trying to create a fear psychosis. But I think it is only a passing phase."

Asked about his trip to Gujarat, Mr Mir said that his department was out on a mission to "remove the fear psychosis" and assured tourists that Kashmir was a safe place to plan a holiday.

Accordingly, a three-day Kashmir Tourism Festival has been organised in Ahmedabad to woo the globe-trotting Gujarati tourists.

The Minister said that the Kashmir Valley offers excellent winter sports facilities and the world's highest ropeway would open to tourists in March.

"The new ropeway at Gulmarg would now offer a gondola ride to a height of 13,000 feet above sea level, the highest anywhere in the world," he said.

Apart from the valley, Mr Mir said that the State could boast of extremely popular religious tourist destinations such as Vaishno Devi and Amarnath, in addition to Leh, which is a major Buddhist destination.

The number of religious tourists travelling to Vaishno Devi near Jammu has risen from 44 lakh in 2002 to 61 lakh last year, while that to Amarnath has shot up from 1.1 lakh to four lakh in the same period, the Minister said.

Laddakh has also emerged as an extremely popular destination in the recent years with the Laddakh Festival being promoted on an international stage.