‘Srinagar meeting has highest delegate participation’
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 21: G20 Chief Coordinator Harshvardhan Shringla today said that the tourism in Jammu and Kashmir will get a big push and open doors of multiple opportunities for local youth with the G20 Tourism Working Group.
“We are hopeful that the UT’s great tourism potential-sustainable tourism, adventure tourism, film and eco-tourism will get a big push and open doors of multiple opportunities for local youth. The event will help to revive the J&K’s economy,” he told reporters ahead of the three-day long G20 Tourism Working Group to be held in Srinagar from tomorrow.
He said that Srinagar has gone through a massive make-over. “Fibre cable are being laid down and a huge development has taken place on war-footing,” he said.
Shringla said that G20 events are being held in North, South, East and Western parts of India for the first time. “Massive awareness camps have been held in all parts of the country about the G20. Specifically, about G20 event in Srinagar, the guests’ arrivals have commenced and we are all set to host the Tourism Working Group’s event related to G20 in Srinagar from tomorrow onwards,” he said.
The official said that there will be international speakers, guests and guest from various parts of India. “There will be group discussions as well. I believe the event will help revive the economy of J&K and its vast potential of tourism,” he said, adding that “the event will help give a big push to J&K’s sustainable tourism, adventure tourism, film and eco-tourism.”
He said the event will open doors of opportunities for the people of J&K, who are bestowed with the natural beauty.
In response to a question about some member countries not registering for the Working Group meeting, Shringla said that the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting here has the highest delegate participation and will be the most significant event held in Jammu and Kashmir.
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”We have the highest representation of foreign delegates in this Working Group meeting than the earlier two meetings. All I can say is we are very very happy with the turnout. We have the making of a unique meeting,” Shringla said.
He said the Working Group meeting has the broader objectives to present India’s rich and diverse cultural identity and promote the country’s tourism potential to the world.
”The very idea is to use this meeting to bring attention to Jammu and Kashmir and how it can help revive handicrafts, etc. It is an opportunity to present our rich culture and heritage. No other working group does it better than the Tourism Group,” he said.
”This will be the most significant event in Jammu and Kashmir,” Shringla added. India is halfway through its G20 presidency and 118 meetings have been held in various parts of the country so far, the G20 chief coordinator said.
”We have hosted 118 meetings from the Rann of Kutch to Kohima and from Kanyakumari and now to Kashmir. There has been a sense of attachment everywhere and I have no doubt it is the same in Srinagar,” he said.
Asked about the negative advisories issued by certain western countries about travel to Kashmir, Shringla said these mean nothing when foreign tourists are visiting the Valley despite such advice. ”Last year, 1.88 crore tourists came to Jammu and Kashmir and a very large number of them were foreign tourists. Foreigners will come in and come in large numbers. At the end of the day, what do advisories mean? They mean nothing,” he said.
Shringla said the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to ensure that the message of India’s G20 presidency is taken down to the grassroots level through the ‘Jan Bhagidari’ process and a lot of efforts have been made to sensitise the people of the country about the G20.
Giving details of the event, Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh said the stage is set for discussions and deliberations on final deliverables.
”There are two key deliverables of the Tourism Working Group, which include the GOA Roadmap for Tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the G20 Tourism Ministers’ Declaration,” Singh said.
The third Tourism Working Group meeting will deliberate on the five key priority areas — 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 said.
“A side event on ‘Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation’ will be organised on May 22-23, focusing on strategies to promote film tourism in the Union Territory. The event will witness the participation of G20 member countries, invited countries, international organisations and industry stakeholders,” Singh added.
He further said a draft ‘National Strategy on Film Tourism’ will be unveiled to provide a roadmap for harnessing the role of films in promoting tourist destinations.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta said that over the past few years, J&K’s tourism influx has seen an upward trend. “In 2022, 1.88 crore tourists visited J&K. I believe this is just the beginning. We will be having a direct train from Delhi to Srinagar next year and that will be a technological wonder. Foreign tourist arrivals have increased manifold this year,” he said, adding that “we have kept 300 new tourist destinations ready to be explored. Sonamarg is going to be open throughout the year. J&K is offering four colours-White which means snow, rainbow meaning spring, green in summers and orange in autumn. So J&K is purely a tourism destination ready to receive guests throughout the year,” he said and welcomed the foreign and domestic guests taking part in the grand event commencing tomorrow.
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