Nearly 13 lakh tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir last year, despite the five-month long unrest in the Valley, and it is around three lakh more than the turnout of visitors in the state in 2015, the state government said.
As per the figures released by the state tourism department, 12,99,112 tourists, both foreign and domestic visited the state last year, compared to 9,27,815 tourists in 2015.
Last year, 12,74,596 domestic and 24,516 foreign tourists visited the state. This is despite the five-month long unrest in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 by security forces.
In 2015, the number of tourists stood at 8,98,861 domestic visitors and 28,954 foreigners.
On the issue of promotion of tourism, Minister of State for Tourism Priya Sethi, said as a part of an initiative, the department facilitates private tour operators through local travel trade associations by allotting them table space at travel events in which J&K Tourism Department participates.
From 2015, the state department of tourism sponsored road shows which were organised by local travel trade associations outside the state. The department has spent Rs 3.87 crore on advertisements in the last two years.
The Department of Tourism also releases, telecasts promos, TVCs in leading channels for promotion and publicity of the state as a tourist destination.
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