Travel And Tourism Industry Hails Modi Government’s Move To Scrap Article 370, Bifurcate Jammu And Kashmir

Tourism industry has welcomed the Modi Government's move to scrap Article 370 and to separate Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as Union Territories, reports Hindu Businessline.

Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI)'s president, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli said that the body welcomed the government’s move as tourism contributes about 15 per cent to Jammu and Kashmir’s GDP.

“Despite Kashmir ticking all the right boxes as a Hospitality & Tourism magnet, the industry’s presence and business in the state is dismal,” Kohli was quoted in the report as saying.

Nishant Pitti, founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, said that Kashmir is a unique destination and holds a lot of potential in terms of tourism and adventure sports. He expressed confidence that the move will have a positive outcome, and as the situation stabilises, more and more tourists would embrace Kashmir as tourist destination.

The chief operating officer of Yatra.com, Sharat Dhall said that the situation in Kashmir will have a short-to-medium term impact on the number of people travelling to valley.

As per the report, HRAWI has estimated that almost 50-60 per cent of the population of J&K is directly or indirectly engaged in the hospitality and tourism or related ancillary activities.