Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 23: Minister for Tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir today inaugurated Jewellery Exhibition as part of the ongoing Kashmir Summer Tourism Festival-2014 at Nigeen Club, here.
The Minister was also accompanied by the Union Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan.
Besides recreation facilities, various exhibitors from different parts of the country and the valley have set up stalls showcasing various kinds of jewellery items for attraction of the tourists visiting the Club.
The 9-day long festival has been organized by Tourism Department in collaboration with Handicrafts and its allied Departments.
ADGP S. M. Sahai, Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Zafar Ahmad Bhat, Director, Tourism Kashmir, Talat Parvez, and other senior officers and representatives of Tourism Related Associations, besides tourists and locals were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that such exhibitions as part of the Kashmir Festival are organized with an objective to showcase the State’s rich cultural heritage besides attracting tourists of varied tastes to the State. He said that such festivals are part of the broader expansion in tourism related activities to cater to different types of tourists’ interests.
Earlier in the morning the Union Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan inaugurated the restored “Hariparbat Fort” which was thrown open to the tourists today.
Mr. Dewan accompanied by Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Zafar Ahmad Bhat, Director, Tourism Kashmir, Talat Parvez, and other senior officers said that in order to cater to the increasing influx of tourists in the Valley there is a need to increase the carrying capacity, which can be achieved by focusing on and reviving the rich cultural heritage that already exists here particularly in “Shaher – I – khas”. He said by restoring the fort and other heritage sites and architecture, we are not only contributing towards preserving the unique heritage for which Kashmir is known world over but also exposing the newer generation to the rich cultural and historical legacy of Kashmir.
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