‘ Single- window clearance for J& K tourism projects’

Jammu and Kashmir will go in for brand tieups to project Kashmir, known as “paradise on Earth”, as a tourist destination with global benchmarks. This, chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, said on Thursday. Efforts will be made to create elite facilities for high- spending visitors to the state. He also promised fasttrack approvals for laying high- end tourism infrastructure and announced a “single window” for projects’ clearance in a time- bound manner under one roof.

Mr Sayeed, emphasising upon the need to promote “business with ease”, said his government will remove hur- dles to facilitate brand tie- ups so that high- end intake capacity of the state, which is presently low, is substantially increased to draw overseas and top- class domestic visitors to the state.

“A high- powered committee will be framed that will facilitate creation of brand infrastructure to attract international tourist footfall to the state,” he said.

While urging top stakeholders in the tourism industry to employ talented local youth in their hospitality and human resource divisions, the chief minister said expansion of tourism infrastructure will create countless employment opportunities in the service sector. “Our youth are greatly talented in HR and hospitality segments and I am sure they will do a fairly good job at the cutting- edge level,” he asserted.

In a bid to dovetail flavour of exquisite Kashmiri cuisine with the tourism industry, the CM asked for branding the food industry of Kashmir by opening a series of restaurants and eating points, which cater to the select market.

The Institute of Hotel Management in Srinagar, he said, has the potential to vastly improve the food services’ sector that can supplement the state’s travel industry. He also asked for organising more food festivals across the country to showcase famed recipes like Wazwan ( Kashmir’s traditional cuisine).