Administration moots steps to boost tourism

Why in news:

• The UT administration has upped the ante with respect to kickstarting positive initiatives for boosting the tourism sector in the region.
• To discourage the practice of fleecing tourists visiting Kashmir, the administration is exploring ways to notify rates for hotels, houseboats, cabs, shikaras, and ponies for the year 2022.
• Over the recent years, there have been complaints that tourists were being overcharged and exploited by transporters, hoteliers, and other service providers during peak season in Kashmir.
• Taking serious note of the complaints, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir has directed to explore ways to notify rates for the upcoming three to five years with a five per cent annual enhancement.
• He has directed the officers to fix rates for services at every tourist destination to prevent tourists from being fleeced, as this has a negative impact on the tourism sector.
• The Divisional Commissioner has directed the concerned officers for the immediate finalisation of the rates proposed for hotels, restaurants, houseboats, taxis, shikaras, and ponies and put it in the public domain through the website of the Tourism department.
• Besides, rates shall be available through print, electronic and social media. The valuable comments and suggestions proposed by the public shall be given due consideration.
• The tourism sector plays an important role in Jammu and Kashmir’s economy as it has huge potential for employment generation, even for unskilled manpower.
• Tourism also caters to the allied sectors like handicrafts, handlooms, and transport.
• However, despite J&K’s unique and rich culture and heritage assets, the sector accounts for only around seven per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
• Tourism in J&K is not even among the top 10 domestic destinations in the country on the basis of the number of tourist arrivals.
• Since August 2019, when the Center revoked J&K’s special status under Article 370 and imposed a security lockdown, tourist arrivals nosedived owing to subsequent Covid-19 lockdowns as well.
• However, since late last year, the J&K government took several initiatives to bring tourists back which had started yielding positive results. The aggressive campaigning by the Tourism department had also attracted several filmmakers to shoot their films here.
• Despite a spate of civilian killings in October, tourist arrivals in Kashmir saw a record jump in November with 1.27 lakh arrivals recorded during the month. There has been a jump of over 1200 per cent in tourist arrivals in Kashmir this year compared to 2020.