‘Promote SKICC for MICE tourism, improve visibility of JKTDC rooms’
Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the tourism sector is once again getting revived in Jammu & Kashmir and number of tourists visiting the Union Territory is increasing with each passing day.
Talking to the reporters in West Bengal where he is scheduled to attend the Tourism Fair, Omar said, “Things are not as bad as you are describing. A good number of tourists are returning to the region. The Amarnath Yatra has also commenced a few days back and a good number of devotees too are visiting the holy cave shrine via two routes. They (devotees) are happy with the situation there,” he said.
Omar further added that he has come to Kolkata to participate in the Tourism Fair. “We want a good number of people from West Bengal to visit Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Earlier CM Chaired the Board meetings of Sher-i- Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) and Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) after the Boards were reconstituted recently with Chief Minister as chairman of both the Boards.
CM chaired back-to back board meetings here at SKICC Srinagar. He presided over the 19th board meeting of SKICC which was attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Administrative Secretaries of Finance, Tourism, DG Planning, Director Tourism, MD JKTDC and Director SKICC.
Chief Minister emphasized the need for SKICC to emerge as a prominent place for conferences and other events so that the SKICC is utilized to its optimal level and it is able to earn sufficient revenue to bear its own expenses. He called upon the SKICC management to employ strategic marketing tools to acquaint corporates and private organizations about this facility which has the potential to be hub of activities all the year round. CM expressed concerned over under-utilization of SKICC and asked Tourism department to build a distinct MICE brand identity for the SKICC so as to utilize this facility. “It is essential to target corporates, event planners, and government agencies to ensure higher bookings for SKICC and minimize unutilized days. This would help SKICC to augment its revenue”, CM said during the meeting. CM also called upon making recoveries of outstanding dues pending with departments, private entities and individuals. CM also called for assigning clear roles to the staff and better supervision to get best out of the available human resource.
This was the first Board meeting of SKICC after the Board was recently reconstituted with Chief Minister as chairman of the Board. The last board meeting of the SKICC Board had been held in November 2020.
The agenda delved on action taken on decisions of previous board meetings, audit reports, reconciliation of accounts with AG’s office, status of segregation of utilities between SKICC and Centaur Hotel which has been outsourced to Leela Palace & JSW Realty by the UT Administration last year, HR matters and absorption of Centaur Hotel staff in other organizations of Tourism department.
In another meeting, Chief Minister chaired 95th Board of Directors meeting of the J&K Tourism Development Corporation and stressed on the need to increase the visibility of JKTDC assets so that tourists and people in general seek accommodation in JKTDC hotels and guest houses earnestly. He called upon improving the services and facilities in JKTDC properties to enhance the experience of guests so that they prefer to take JKTDC accommodation every time they visit J&K.
CM expressed concern over misuse of JKTDC properties and revenue leakages. “Every single JKTDC asset be installed with an independent smart meter,“ CM asserted, underlining the need to improve monitoring of JKTDC huts and hotels and to check misuse of assets. He called upon improving the overnight-stay potential of huts in remote tourist areas. CM gave directions to make maximum number of rooms including premium ones available for better marketability through Online Travel Aggregators so that JKTDC hotels and huts are used to optimum capacity. He called for developing JKTDC App for efficient marketing and better accessibility to its services.
CM called for audit of assets to evaluate the lacunae and how to improve deficiencies. The JKTDC management was directed to adopt best practices being followed in the private sector to improve its functioning.
