Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 28: The upcoming G20 event in Kashmir has the potential to promote Jammu and Kashmir as a global tourism destination, Tourism department secretary Abid Rasheed Shah said here today at Model G20 Summit that was held at SKICC Srinagar.
“There is a very important event that is going to be organised in J&K in the last week of May. The third tourism working group meeting of the G20 countries is going to be held in Kashmir,” Shah told reporters here.
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The Tourism department held a model G20 summit – a prelude to the main event which is scheduled to take place from May 22-24. The prelude event was attended by more than 60 students from various colleges and universities.
The Tourism secretary said it is a massive event for J-K and has the potential to promote J-K tourism at the international level.
The general public of Jammu and Kashmir, including students, are widely participating in various events in the run-up to the main meet.
Tourism is the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy and the maximum share of the Union territory’s GDP comes from tourism, he said.
The summit brought together over 60 participants from universities across J&K including Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Central University of Kashmir (CUK), Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) and University of Kashmir (KU).
The opening ceremony of the event was presided over Shah. He expressed his belief that this event would serve as a stepping stone for the younger generation, opening more opportunities for them in the future.
“You are all aware that the third G20 tourism group is going to be held in Kashmir in the last week of May. We have held a G20 model summit in which students, young bright students from various colleges, schools and universities participated. There was overwhelming response from these participants, this is the indication of warmth with which we will welcome the G20 delegates in Kashmir. This is a great opportunity also for us to showcase Jammu and Kashmir and various tourism products of J&K to a global audience. It gives us an opportunity to present J&K as one the topmost tourist destinations across the world,” said Shah
During the event, the students actively participated in deliberations and negotiations while representing their respective G20 countries. The discussions primarily focused on priorities in the tourism sector, such as sustainable tourism practices and gender equity & women in tourism.
“This model G20 event is like a rehearsal to the main event happening here next month. We had students from various institutions, and we are participating in this event as delegates and we have to discuss about tourism and sustainable tourism, women in tourism and effective promotion of tourism. We discussed the issues and it’s going to be a major event in Jammu and Kashmir. It’s going to open new avenues for us and people are going to perceive us differently. It’s going to be a boon for the tourism sector,” said Sadat Hussain, Student.
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