Tourism dept to start promotional drive today

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 15

The Department of Tourism will embark on an aggressive countrywide marketing campaign from Wednesday till February end where it will take part in nine road shows and several travels marts.

“We have already started marketing campaigns through advertisements in the regional and national media, which has fetched good results as premier resort like Gulmarg is packed with tourists. We are also showcasing our tourism products at the travel shows like SATTE in Delhi, Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) in Mumbai and India International Travel Mart (IITM) in Kolkata in January,” said Nisar Ahmad Wani, Director, Tourism, Kashmir.

He said the department would be showcasing its tourism products at South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) – South Asia’s largest travel and tourism event from January 16 to 18 at Greater Noida. The event will be followed by a road show at Pune on January 21. The department has scheduled at least nine roadshows at Pune, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Kolkata and Bengaluru among other places to tap the domestic market.

Wani said the department would later hold roadshows in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand to attract more travellers from these countries.

“We are providing platform for the local travel and hospitality sector in these travel marts who also sell their packages and network with their counterparts and clients from different states of the country and other foreign countries. The marketing at these marts help promote state’s tourism products and attract travellers under one roof,” he added. He said they would also be interacting with the leading travel agents of the country at these roadshows where local travel agents, hoteliers and houseboat owners are also participating.