Jammu:- Directorate of Tourism, Jammu held its first-ever webinar to unveil the tourism potential in Kishtwar, anciently often called Kashtavata, and presently the most important district within the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Titled as ‘Tourism Potential in Kishtwar’, the webinar mentioned the excessive diploma of pure magnificence and distinctive cultural encounters {that a} customer can stay up for on this largely unexplored district.

The webinar started with the opening remarks of the Chief Visitor, Rupinder Brar, Extra Director Common, Ministry of Tourism, Authorities of India. She congratulated the division for taking the initiative, and likewise identified that there’s loads that must be accomplished.

She acknowledged that Kishtwar is blessed with all bodily geographical options and wealthy cultural heritage, and as such, has immense potential with regard to a number of forms of tourism, starting from nature to ethnic tourism.

“People these days love to be closer to nature and the trends like homestays are here to stay. Essentially, we need to work along with the local administration and develop upon connectivity, hospitality units, workforce quality and marketing strategy for Kishtwar. In addition to existing GOI initiatives like NIDHI, SAATHI, IITFC, we are planning roadshows and other promotional activities to flag and publicize the region extensively,” she mentioned.

Vivekanand Rai, IRS, Director Tourism Jammu, asserted the pro-active function of Directorate of Tourism, Jammu in selling the area. He shared upcoming actions akin to Saffron Selecting Competition, Bike Rally, apart from ongoing infrastructure improvement, and exploring journey and non secular tourism elements.

Kishori Lal Ji Sharma, JKAS, Extra Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, gave an account of the formation of the district as within the trendy instances, its demographics and the way the district got here to be often called ‘Land of Sapphire, Saffron, and Shrines’.

“Kishtwar district is half of the whole Kashmir Valley. It is bound by the Great Himalayas in the North, marked by forests, waterfalls, valleys, meadows, and shrines, and has a calendar of cultural celebrations. It has all that is needed to capture people’s inherent interest and provide the drive for tourism, but yearns for sincere efforts from Directorate of Tourism Jammu,” Sharma mentioned, including that the native administration is greater than keen to facilitate any promotional initiative for Kishtwar.

Nagendra Singh Jamwal, JKAS, Registrar, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi College, Former CEO, Surinsar Mansar Growth Authority, highlighted the distinctive place that Kishtwar has within the Historical past and Geography of the Union Territory of J&Ok and Ladakh. He referred to it as Mini-India and referred to as for exhaustive content material creation for a similar.

“Kashtavata remained famous for its natural bounties including world famous Sapphires, timber and mountain passes across Himalayas to connect Ladakh and Kashmir with Jammu region,” he knowledgeable.

He added, “Kishtwar affords one of the best mountaineering treks within the UT, together with the heritage treks on the routes undertaken by Wazir Zorawar Singh to succeed in Suru valley in Kargil and Ladakh by way of Zanskar over the Bhodkol La and Umasi La. It clearly defines and demarcates the geography of Jammu area by way of Chenab watershed.”

Arvind Kotwal, JKAS Retd, Former Deputy Director Publicity, began his discuss with a time journey again to his experiences in Kishtwar. He centered on creating actions for vacationers coming or wish to come, particularly for leisure and journey tourism, as it’s excessive time the tourism potential of the area is absolutely realized.

“We are still discussing the tourism potential of this region, as in all these years, we haven’t been able to realize and market it. The USP of this region is extreme adventure, though every tourist wouldn’t want to try that. Do we have any leisure activity for them? Trials have already been conducted for paragliding, rafting, but we haven’t moved ahead with them. Also, there is rarely any factually correct and beautiful content created. The role of Tourism Department, and Kishtwar Development Authority comes into play here,” he talked about.

OP Sharma Vidyarthi, IFS, Writer and Tree Discuss Campaigner, mentioned, “Kishtwar mountains are known for sapphire, saffron, black cumin, medicinal herbs, majestic Himalayan Tahr, Snow Leopard, Musk Deer, Monal pheasant, and so on. They need to be developed as per time tested ethnic culture, lifestyle, faith, outlook, and eco-friendly consumerism based on local resources, and traditional utilization patterns. It is time to adopt sustainable eco-tourism.”

He talked about just a few actions that may be taken up, inter alia, nature and wildlife images, worth addition to domestically accessible edible cum dietary vegetation, and creating biodiversity museum.

Ram Singh, an Inspector in Jammu And Kashmir Police, and who has to his credit score the summit of Mt Everest, careworn on mountaineering and trekking alternatives within the area.

“Peaks in Kishtwar, including Brahma 1, 2, Agyasol and others, provide excellent climbing experience, and many foreign summiteers have won praise for the same. We need to give the region its due credit, and inspire others with our efforts to explore and sell it,” he mentioned.

Prashant Mathawan, Co-founder, Work from Mountains, talked concerning the Historic and Cultural significance of Kishtwar as on the crossroads of the Western Himalayas.

“Kishtwar is a melting pot of cultures, yet forced to become just another name in the book. With concrete steps, such as development of Eco Friendly Experiential Tourism, improved connectivity, it can become a happening destination within no time,” he mentioned and referred to as for declaring Kishtwar Excessive Altitude Nationwide Park as UNESCO Web site.

The session was offered and moderated by Megha Sinha, a younger anchor, and producer of nationwide reputation.