Admin to regularize rates of hotels, restaurants, houseboats in Kashmir

Following the complaints of non-regulation of rates, the administration in Kashmir has directed officials to put rates proposed for hotels, restaurants, houseboats, ponies and taxis in the public domain through the website of the Tourism department.

Reports said that the administration has been receiving regular complaints of non-regulations of rates in respect of hotels, restaurants, houseboats, taxis, shikaras ponies are being regularly received which is giving a bad name to the trade.

Sources said that the meeting was held last week by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, P K Pole with Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Anantnag, Additional Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Chief Executive Officer, PDA, GDA, SDA, officials of the Tourism department.

The meeting was held over the finalization of rates of the Tourist destinations of Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Sonamarg.

A senior official who was part of the meeting told TRN that the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole was apprised by the the Director Tourism that the proposal for the rates other than hotels have been framed, finalized and submitted to Govt. for its approval. However, the little difficulty is being faced in proposing the rates of hotels in view of the different classes and categories.

He added that regarding the publicity of the proposal finalization of rates, the Divisional Commissioner P K Pole directed that the rates category/season-wise proposed for the hotels, restaurants, houseboats, ponies, taxis etc. shall be put to public domain through the website of Tourism Department, besides, through print electronic and social media. The valuable comments, suggestions, proposed by the public shall be given due consideration.

“During the meeting, the Div. Com Kashmir apprised that the rates in respect of all the hotels shall be proposed and fixed as category wise and season wise”, he added. Adding that he said that the Div. Com Kashmir directed that the rates notified shall also be strictly implementable for those hotels having a chain of hotels through country.

The official added that the Div. Com Kashmir directed for the regulation of rates and trade the possibility shall be explored to give publicity through the government of India Ministry of Tourism Department website.

“It was also apprised by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole that final rate list boards big in size for hotels, restaurants, houseboats, and taxis etc. shall be erected near the taxi stands, police stations, bus stations, tourist reception centres, tourist destination entry and exit points, poinee tracks etc. so that the chances of overcharging is brought down”, the official added.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta chaired a meeting to review various activities being undertaken by the Tourism Department to highlight and promote new tourist destinations in Jammu and Kashmir.
It was informed that the tourism in Jammu and Kashmir has crossed the mark of highest tourist footfall in November when 1,27,605 tourists visited the Union territory in a single month.

Moreover, to attract local and foreign tourists to the UT, the Tourism Department is organizing various roadshows across major cities of the country and raising awareness on the tourism-related events, activities, and destinations in Jammu and Kashmir. These cities include Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, and Lucknow.

It was further informed that as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav, the Department organized an iconic week celebration in the last week of October 2021, which included performances on Hafiz Nagma, Kalam-e-Khusroo, Kalam-e-Baba Fareed, Qawwali, Baul Sufi folk, Darvish Sufi dance, and Haziri Kathak, besides literary seminar on Sufism and exhibition of local arts, calligraphy, Sufi traditions, and houseboat festival.

To celebrate 75 years of Independence, the Department is organizing 75 tourism festivals to promote 75 off-beat destinations. These destinations will be developed with proper infrastructure and requisite facilities to tap their tourism potential in collaboration with locals, youth clubs, and Panchayati Raj Institutions. The festivals organized so far are- Gurez festival, Monsoon festival, Patnitop& Kashmir, Lolab festival, Wular festival, Aharbal festival, Tosamaidan festival, and Verinag festival.

The Chief Secretary asked the Tourism Department to promote 75 new tourist places by developing comprehensive facilities in an integrated manner having adequate provisions of recreational activities, eateries, and restrooms.

Dr. Mehta asked the Department to preserve, restore, and promote the cultural and architectural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. He advised the Department to raise awareness about these places by organizing dedicated travel, trekking-expeditions, mountain bike adventures, and stays around the identified sites. He advised the Department to promote tourism cooperatives for comprehensive tourism development through collective efforts of locals, youth, PRIs through Department-sponsored training, capacity-building, and handholding.

In the winter months, the Department will further organize the Jammu festival, white water rafting championship, Christmas carnival, Winter Carnival, Gulmarg snow festival, Lohri festival, Mata Vaishno Devi Sangeet Sammelan, and several others, as a part of its calendar of activities under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Department celebrated International Mountain Day on 11th December under the theme ‘Sustainable Mountain Tourism’ through several activities including a painting competition and exhibition, wall climbing event at Nowgam, Mountain biking expedition, and inauguration of Paragliding season.

The Chief Secretary asked the Department to actively promote wall and rock climbing sport throughout the Union territory, as there exists a huge potential on this account. He impressed upon the Department to strive for observing the most vibrant winter season this year with a special focus on the local and domestic tourists, now that the National Highway to the Kashmir valley has been upgraded.

To promote rural tourism, it was informed that specific activities will be organized along the identified rural circuits across Jammu and Kashmir, including Hokersar-Parihaspora-Gohan in Gulmarg, Waderbala, Nowgam Mawar- Lolab in Kupwara, Chari-Sharief-Doodhpathri-Yousmarg in Budgam SaderkootPayeen- Watlab in Bandipora and, Bani- Basohli-Sarthal and Billawar Duggan in Kathua, among others.