Come, enjoy and rejuvenate yourself: J&K L-G’s invite to international tourists

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said they have identified 300 new destinations to promote green tourism, small and medium enterprises, youth and women entrepreneurs and involve local communities to support sustainable tourism.

“This Himalayan region is blessed to have 55 per cent green and forest cover and last year alone we planted 16 million trees to give a renewed push to green tourism and to provide new getaways and stunning eco-destinations for the domestic and international travellers,” he said, here, in his address to a tourism working group meeting of the G20 grouping of the world’s largest economies.

“Tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir has been accorded the status of the industry and all fiscal incentives as per our industrial policy and I can tell you, we are receiving massive investment proposals from the industries in the hospitality sector,” Sinha said and added through this empowered gathering, he invites the world to Jammu and Kashmir.

“Give us a chance to host you and, for you, to know us. Come, enjoy and rejuvenate yourself,” he said.

The L-G said Jammu and Kashmir used to be the favourite location for the Bollywood film industry till the late 1980s. “After a long pause of almost four decades, we have revived the relationship with Bollywood and launched a film policy in 2021 to attract more investment into the film sector and to make Jammu and Kashmir the most popular film shooting destination,” he said.

Sinha said last year alone, more than 300 movies were filmed in the region and such enthusiasm is bringing about a qualitative change in the lives of people.

The L-G, who was scheduled to host a high tea for G20 delegates, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development schemes have empowered the masses and effective administration has isolated the terror ecosystem, which thrived with the support from across the border. “Now even foreign investments are also coming into J&K.”

He said there have been green shoots of better times people have anxiously looking for.

While China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia skipped the working group meeting, delegates and officials from G20 members, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the UK, the US, and the European Union, attended the inaugural events on the banks of Dal Lake.