Roadshow held in Amritsar to woo tourists to Jammu

Jammu, June 28

In a bid to woo tourists from the neighbouring state, the Jammu Tourism Department conducted a roadshow in Amritsar in Punjab and exhibited major sites of the region with special focus on the Patnitop circuit as an independent tourist destination.

“This was the fourth and last roadshow planned by the department for Punjab. Earlier, the department had organised similar road shows at Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar,” said an official of the Tourism Department here today.

A delegation of tour and travel operators and other stakeholders from Patnitop, Katra, Bhaderwah and Jammu was led by Director, Tourism, Jammu, RK Varma to showcase various destinations of the Jammu region in general and Patnitop and its adjoining areas in particular.

The delegation had intensive and extensive interaction with their counterparts from Amritsar and offered attractive packages for the tourists visiting Patnitop, Katra, Bhaderwah and Jammu, he said.

During the roadshow, people of Amritsar were apprised of the City of Temples, Jammu, and told about the places of attraction there, including heritage monuments such as the Dogra Art Gallery, Amar Mahal, Mubarak Mandi, Bagh-e-Bahu, Raghunath Heritage Bazaar, Raghunath Temple, Golf Course at Sidhra, Jammu, and the famous Mansar Lake, which is about 48 km from the main city, a department spokesman said.

“They were told about the belief in local folk that newlyweds consider it auspicious to circumambulate around the lake to seek blessings of the Lord serpents whose shrine is located on its banks,” he said.

People were also told about Patnitop, the most popular hill resort in the Jammu region, 112 km from Jammu and 87 km from Katra. At an altitude of 2,024 metres, Patnitop is perched on a beautiful plateau across which passes the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the tourism official said, adding that the region abounds eye-catching meadows and thick forests of deodar and kail trees.

“They were also informed that one can also visit the dam site of the Baglihar hydroelectric project, which is 10 km from Patnitop,” the spokesman said.

People were provided pamphlets and brochures containing details of the tourist spots along with information about accommodations and the J&K Tourism Development Corporation’s luxury huts.

The other places of tourist interest projected during the roadshow were Sanasar lake — 18 km from Patnitop — and nine-hole golf course situated at an altitude of 2,064 metres.

The potential of Sanasar for adventure activities such as paragliding, trekking, skiing, zorbing was also highlighted.

Buoyed by the response to the roadshows, the Tourism Department said it was expecting an unprecedented rise in the tourist inflow in the Patnitop sector and other tourist centres of the region. — PTI