J&K plans to develop nine new tourism destinations with World Bank funding

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said his government is planning to develop nine new tourism destinations across the Union Territory, expressing hope that the World Bank will put aside its “traditional sort of reluctance” to fund any project in J&K. Seeking support of tourism players in promoting the industry back home, Abdullah highlighted the challenges posed by “ridiculous prices” of air tickets to and fro Kashmir and hoped for a relief by the inauguration of direct train by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in coming days. “We have nine new destinations in mind that we hope to get funded through a multilateral agency. We hope these destinations will ease some sort of pressure on Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg in the valley and also open up areas of Jammu hitherto undiscovered for tourism. “Until those new destinations come up, the valley as we see it today is pretty much saturated. The moment the tulip garden is open, Srinagar for all intents and purposes grinds to a halt,” the chief minister said while addressing a tourism-related event here. Later, answering the queries of some of the participants including K B Kachru, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor, South Asia for the Radisson Hotel Group, Abdullah said his government has already worked on these nine destinations.