Poll changes Valley’s tourism profile

‘‘It is after a long time that the foreign tour operators and embassies have started approaching us. We are formulating tour packages to encash the opportunity,’’ said A.A. Wani, MD of Jammu and Kashmir Tourist Development Corporation (JKTDC).

And none of the messages reflect security concerns. ‘‘All they are bothered about is if the tourist spots have boarding and lodging facility,’’ said a tourist department official.

He said this change in tourists’ perception has more to do do with people’s participation in Kashmir polls. ‘‘This sent across a signal of normalcy. People overcame the fear generated by years of clattering Kalashnikovs.’’

‘‘Few days ago, an official from the Australian embassy called up and said the fear among his countrymen had more to do with media reports about ongoing death and destruction. But the elections made them change their view,” said a tourism official.

A German editor, Anne Herskind, has even decided to start a feature on tourist resorts in Kashmir. She has begun work with the help of tourism industry people, an official said. The articles will appear in Asiabridge.

Several queries about Kashmir also popped up during the recent convention on tourism in New Delhi. An Australian High Commission official, Rusk Brimley, was particularly interested about the ski slopes in Kashmir. He was not alone, embassy officials from Egypt, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Norway were also eager to invade the snow-capped peaks.

The JKTDC and SKICC officials used the New Delhi conference to generate confidence among those who are still apprehensive about taking trip to the valley. ‘‘Throughout the conference, we kept telling people that if an incident like 9/11 can’t affect tourism in US, why should stray incidents of violence scare people away from the valley,’’said Shehnawaz Hussain, head of marketing, SKICC.