Jammu and Kashmir Tourism to focus on promoting Ladakh and Adventure Tourism at ITB Berlin

The Department of Tourism, Government of Jammu and Kashmir will emphasise more on promoting Ladakh at the ITB Berlin which will be held from March 11-15, 2009. Farooq Shah, Director Tourism, Kashmir informed that the main idea is to attract more tourists to the region. ITB Berlin is a prestigious and largest tourism exchange programme in the world. The department will also put an effort in promoting Adventure Tourism destinations of the state at the ITB Berlin event, since the state has lot of potential for Adventure Tourism activities and is popular for skiing and mountaineering.

The state recently sought approval from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), the national apex body for mountaineering and Government of India (GoI) for opening more peaks in the state. It has mentioned about 113 new peaks in the state to be opened up. Similarly, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) also has recommended the same to GoI at the recently held ATOAI convention in Uttarakhand. As per sources, approval for opening new peaks at Jammu and Kashmir is under consideration by GoI.