The Ladakh Administration is striving to make the cold desert region a round the year tourist destination and the newly created union territory (UT) was among couple of states that represented India under the Incredible India banner of the Ministry of Tourism at the
International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin 2023, the first in-person edition since the COVID pandemic, took place from 7 to 9 March in Berlin, Germany.
Ladakh’s presence at the international tourism fair was termed as an excellent exposure of Ladakh tourism before the international tourism fraternity by Director (Tourism), Ladakh, Kunzes Angmo, who represented Ladakh along with a team of local hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators at the three day event. Ever since the formulation of the UT of Ladakh, the Administration has been taking various initiatives for promoting Ladakh as a round-the-year tourist destination, highlighting unique geographical and cultural aspects of Ladakh.
Earlier, Ladakh made its presence felt at the South Asia’s Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE), Greater NOIDA, NCR with its official delegation and over 40 co-exhibitors from 9 to 11 February 2023. The UT of Ladakh also participated in IATO Annual Convention at Lucknow from 16 to 19 December 2022; Bharat Parv at Lal Qila, Delhi from 26 to 31 January 2023 and also participated in Flavours of North India Food Festival organized by North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala from 3 to 11 December 2022.
Meanwhile, the two-day training programme for homestay owners organised by the Department of Tourism, UT Ladakh, concluded at Food Craft Institute, Leh. A total of 413 homestay owners attended the training programme.
Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan; Principal, Food Craft Institute, Sonam Chosjor and Assistant Director (Tourism), Leh, Tsering Spalzes were present at the concluding function.
Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan talked about the efforts being made by the Tourism Department for establishment and promotion of Homestays in rural areas of Ladakh. He informed about organising various skill development and awareness programmes for the homestay owners in the coming days so as to make them capable of running the homestays in a professional manner.
Emphasising the need for promoting experiential tourism among tourists, he exhorted the homestay owners that tourists should carry back good memories of their visit right from their arrival in Ladakh to till their departure. He further stated that officials from Tourism Department along with stakeholders from the tourism sector are currently taking part in ITB Berlin 2023 to promote Ladakh tourism to attract foreign tourists to the region. He further stated that the inflow of inbound tourists will definite boost the prospects of homestays in the UT.
