Kashmir – Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department praised the state to be an only state of India for zero percent crime rate against tourists.
MA Shah, director of the tourism department, dispelled the fears wandering around last year’s Amarnath Yatris attack and said – “Jammu and Kashmir is completely safe for visitors and tensions in the border areas have “little effect” on its tourism circuit.”
Shah called it – “an isolated incident to scare away visitors” – he promised that such attempts won’t repeat.
“Apart from last year’s attack on Amarnath yatris, there has not been any instance of violence in the tourism corridor of the state, spanning Jammu, Vaishno Devi, Sonemarg, Gulmarg or Ladakh, in the last one decade,” said Shah.
Shah also claimed that local tourists in 2017 crossed one crore, while 30 percent of them were from Gujarat, and 25 percent of them were from West Bengal.
“Had it been unsafe, we would not have had so many foreign and domestic tourists visiting Kashmir,” Shah said.
Kashmir is the only state which has a dedicated tourism police to assist the travellers.
“Kashmir is not just for holidaying in summer time, it is a round-the-year destination offering snowfall in the winter, blossoms in the spring, endless alpine meadows in the summer and the glory of crimson chinar trees in the autumn,” Shah added.
