Underlining the importance of peace for growth of tourism, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said Jammu Kashmir will soon find its place among top-50 destinations in the world and it will be on the travel bucket list of global travellers.

Manoj Sinha was speaking at the inaugural session of G20’s third Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar on Tuesday.

It is worth mentioning here that while China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia were not attending the high-profile meeting, representatives of 17 other member countries are participating in it.

Lashed out at Pakistan for exporting terror in the border region, Sinha said by empowering the masses in J&K, the administration has isolated the terror eco-system that thrived with the support from across the border. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for weeding out terrorism and opening limitless possibilities of growth and peace in the union territory.

He said that tourism in Jammu Kashmir is also a reflection of the multi-religious and multi-cultural ethos of India.

The Lt governor said, “Tourism cannot grow in isolation. The economics of it is fine, that tourism needs good infrastructure, sound policies and effective and responsive administration. No less fundamental to me is the fact that only peace and happiness of people can bring warmth in the hospitality we Indians eternally enjoy.”

He said today, Jammu Kashmir stands among the developed regions of India on some measurable milestones, and the administration is committed for people’s prosperity both economically and socially.

“The paradigm shift towards sustainable living, inclusive and sustainable development is also an opportunity to provide new impetus to sustainable tourism. I am truly delighted that under India’s G20 Presidency, the G20 Tourism Working Group is focusing on five inter-connected priority areas. Green tourism, digitalization, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management will provide a roadmap for tourism as a tool for achieving sustainable development goals,” the Lt Governor remarked as he noted that Jammu and Kashmir is already working on a few of the priority areas identified by the G20 Tourism Working Group like on Green Tourism, Skills, Tourism MSMEs and Digitalization.

He emphasised that in the post-pandemic era five key building blocks will promote environmental awareness, protect the ecology and improve the economy and livelihoods of communities and inclusive growth of stakeholders.

The Lt governor noted that a record number of 18 million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir last year, the tourism sector made a 7 per cent contribution to Jammu Kashmir GDP. We have identified 300 new destinations to promote green tourism, small & medium enterprises, youth and women entrepreneurs and involve local communities to support sustainable tourism.

The Lt governor said that after a long pause of almost 4-decades, J&K UT administration has revived the relationship with Bollywood and launched a film policy in 2021 to attract more investment into the film sector. He also said that more than 300 movies were filmed in the region last year and such enthusiasm is bringing about a qualitative change in the lives of people.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said, “We always look forward to working with G20 nations to promote sustainable tourism throughout the world including the domestic circuits.”

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said development of J&K can be seen in the form that the world’s highest railway bridge here is higher than the Eiffel Tower.