Jammu and Kashmirs administration has constituted district-level committees to identify lands needed to build five-star hotels in the UT amid the rising number of tourists visiting the picturesque region.
The panel (s), as per the order, will have concerned deputy commissioners as its chairman with the concerned Director Tourism, DFO, Chief Town Planner, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager District Industries Centre as its members, reported Greater Kashmir.
The terms of reference of the committee (s) will be to identify suitable land for establishment of 5-star hotels. This may include State land, forest land, private land etc having the potential and feasibility considering factors such as accessibility and other basic infrastructure required for the project, the order reads as quoted by the news portal.
Officials in the Tourism department said there is an urgent need to build five-star hotels due to a spike in tourists arriving at the Himalayan destination, popular among travellers for its snow-clapped mountains and natural beauty.
When we intend to host over two crore tourists, there is a need to have quality infrastructure as well. This time, we are witnessing good arrivals of foreign guests from South East Asian countries and to give them better experience beyond the natural beauty of the Valley, we should have 5-star hotels across the UT, an official told the news portal.
Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing an uptick in tourists with over eleven lakh travellers visiting the Valley in the first six months of the year, officials in the tourism department said.
Data showed that among the 1,155,289 visitors, 22,612 were foreign tourists, reported Indian news agency ANI.
Officials anticipate the Valley is likely to see an influx of international tourists from June.
Hotels in key destinations are currently booked amid a spike in tourist footfall with most states and Union Territories witnessing a rise in mercury level this summer.
Sharing the statistics, an official stated that the current year has seen 11.5 million tourists so far. In comparison, 21.1 million tourists visited the valley in 2023, 18.8 million in 2022, 11.3 million in 2021, and 3.4 million in 2020, ANI reported.
