Dubai, Feb 18: The thaw in ties between India and Pakistan has boosted tourism in Kashmir, said Mohammed Ashraf, adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism (JKT).
''About 500 tourists are arriving in Kashmir daily,'' Ashraf said, adding that the JKT would be especially targeting Gulf travellers who had been visiting the valley in large numbers prior to eruption of militancy in 1990.
The adviser to the JKT is in the United Arab Emirates to woo Arab tourists.
''It is for the first time that the JKT would be participating in a big way in the Arabian Travel Mart in Dubai,'' a newspaper quoted him as saying.
“The India Tourism office in Dubai is organising two tours of travel agents and top golfers to Jammu and Kashmir in the first week of April,'' he said.
For the first time in five years, the state tourism department has organised winter sports in the mountain resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg.
The improving situation is expected to give a further boost to tourism activities during the forthcoming summer season, Ashraf further said.
Last year, almost 200,000 tourists, including 8,000 foreigners, visited the valley, he said and hoped that more tourists visit the region this year than in 2002.
Bureau Report
