Kashmir Autumn Festival from Oct 25 to counter negative perception

Srinagar, Oct 21: All arrangements are in place to host three-day “ Kashmir Autumn Festival” from October 25 in which 100 delegates from travel and media industry have been invited to showcase the state’s tourism potential and counter negative perception.

Secretary Tourism Rigzin Samphel said tourist footfall from South East Asian countries was increasing which is an encouraging sign.

He said the department is organising Kashmir Autumn Festival from October 25 to October 27 at Srinagar, Pahalgam and Gulmarg in which 100 delegates from travel and media industry have been invited to showcase the state’s tourism potential and counter negative perception. All arrangements have been made for the success of the festival.

''We will be inviting the leading tourism destination sellers from across the country on a FAM tour here during the festival so that they get the first-hand experience of how beautiful the Valley is and how freely the tourists are enjoying holidays and local hospitality. This will help us counter negative perception to a greater extent,'' he said.

He was speaking at 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Alliance (JKTA) held here on Saturday during which an award ceremony honouring veterans of the travel and hospitality sector, its founder members and past presidents besides media persons was also held.

While complimenting JKTA for holding its AGM, Secretary Information, Youth Service and Sports Sarmad Hafeez Sarmad Hafeez said tourism industry has always bounced back and is the resilient sector.

He said the local travel fraternity worked very hard for the success of Travel Agents Association of India convention held in Srinagar which helped improve general perception about Kashmir.

''People all over the country want to visit Kashmir. We need to tell them positive stories from J&K. Most of the time media plays up circumstances here but there are hundreds of the other positive stories which are worth sharing and can help build confidence among travellers to visit Kashmir,'' he said.