Delay exposes widening gap between vision & execution
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 21: More than 10 months after the Government officially announced the constitution of a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee to revive and restructure Jammu and Kashmir’s tourism and hospitality sector, the committee remains conspicuously absent. The prolonged silence from the Government has triggered serious questions over whether the ambitious tourism roadmap outlined in March 2025 was a genuine reform agenda or merely a policy promise without follow-up.
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On March 7, 2025, the Government announced that to further strengthen the tourism and hospitality sector and to address key issues and recommend policy measures, a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee would be constituted.
“Our goal is to increase tourism’s contribution to GSDP from 7% to at least 15% over the next 4 to 5 years and the Advisory Committee will guide in this regard”, the Government had stated in an official document.
However, despite the passage of more than 10 months, no notification, composition or terms of reference of such a committee have been made public, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding Advisory Committee was envisaged as a key institutional mechanism to advise the Government on tourism development, promotion and publicity, creation of high-end infrastructure and resolution of tourism-related issues.
Experts and stakeholders said, “ten months is not an insufficient period to constitute an Advisory Committee, especially when the intent had already been publicly declared”, adding “in administrative terms, forming an Advisory Committee does not require prolonged procedural delays. The extended inaction suggests either a lack of seriousness or a worrying disconnect between policy announcements and administrative execution”.
Sources described the delay as reflective of a broader trend of “policy paralysis” in a sector that forms the economic backbone of Jammu and Kashmir. “Tourism cannot be governed through announcements alone. Without institutional mechanisms like the Advisory Committee, decision-making remains bureaucratic, slow and detached from ground realities”, they added.
Past experience has shown that Advisory Committees for the tourism sector, when constituted with credible experts, have played a decisive role in strengthening Jammu and Kashmir’s tourism ecosystem. Such committees have historically helped the Government move beyond routine bureaucratic limitations and adopt expert-driven and market-responsive policies.
The proposed Advisory Committee was expected to provide expert-driven policy inputs like identify infrastructure gaps and recommend high-end and sustainable tourism facilities; shape global marketing strategies to counter negative perception and seasonal dependency; diversify tourism products beyond traditional destinations to lesser-known regions; ensure environmental sustainability in fragile, ecologically sensitive zones and act as a feedback bridge between the Government and tourism stakeholders
“While tourism figures are frequently highlighted in official speeches, there appears to be little urgency in creating the institutional frameworks required to manage and sustain growth”, they further said, adding “unplanned tourism expansion could worsen congestion, degrade natural resources, and erode visitor experience—ultimately harming the very sector the Government claims to prioritize”.
The failure to constitute the Advisory Committee has also placed the Government’s credibility at stake. “When timelines are not respected and key institutions remain unformed, it sends a negative signal to investors, industry players and international tourism partners”, sources said.
They added that raising tourism’s GSDP contribution to 15% is not achievable through announcements alone. It requires structured planning, expert consultation and continuous course correction—precisely the functions the Advisory Committee was meant to perform.
Stakeholders further pointed out that failing to operationalize the Tourism Advisory Committee undermines not only policy credibility but also the livelihoods of thousands who depend on timely interventions, infrastructure upgrades and market diversification.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, tourism is not an optional economic activity, it is a survival economy”, sources stressed, adding “lakhs of people depend directly or indirectly on tourism and any governance gap in the sector immediately translates into job losses and income instability”.
Stating that further delay will only widen existing gaps, sources stressed that Government must move beyond announcements and immediately constitute the Advisory Committee, ensuring that tourism governance in Jammu and Kashmir is guided by expertise, accountability and long-term vision.
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