Tourism Policy of Jammu and Kashmir

Government
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course
Government Systems and Policies

Submitted on February 24, 2014 by

Group C4
Aditi Agarwal
Gowtham Siddharthan
Harsimran Singh
Prachi Sahu
Pratheek Remesh Menon
Samson Anto Kingsley

Sec C
[ii]
Contents
Tourism as a policy matter in India ...................................................................................................... 2
Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Policy: Background and timeline of events ............................ 2
Experience of citizens ................................................................................................................................. 3
Key Stakeholders.......................................................................................................................................... 4
Institutions and Structures ........................................................................................................................ 4
Policy Elements ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Latest updates on the policy .................................................................................................................... 6
Tourism as a policy matter in India
State, Union or concurrent list?
Tourism as a distinct subject doesn’t finds a mention in the 7th Schedule of the
Constitution of India Although some of its individual components are there either in
the State List, Union List or the Concurrent List. There have been multiple attempts
to include tourism in the concurrent list as this will provide a constitutional status to
the tourism sector and assist in the development of tourism in a structured manner
by enabling the Central Government to come up with legislations governing the
activities of various service providers in the tourism sector. (Dayananda et. al 2016)
Interestingly, J&K was one the states opposing a move of including tourism in the
concurrent list even though it is one the few states with no formal tourism policy
(TNN, 2002). Bringing in another perspective on the issue, former Minister of State
for Tourism Renuka Chowdhary said in 2013 that there are synergies between the
State and the Central governments now and not much value-addition will be done by
moving tourism to the Concurrent List (Nandan, 2013) .
Generally, tourism is looked after by the state government. Tourism plays a big role
in creating jobs, improving the economy of the state as well as the country.
Developing tourist-friendly infrastructure, preservation of tourist places and their
heritage, improving transportation to and around tourist places, maintaining law and
order, promoting tourism of their respective state are some of the tasks done by the
state government.
Tourism policy: Tourism policy can be defined as a set of guidelines, rules,
regulations, directives and development objectives and strategies that provide a
framework within which the collective and individual decisions are directly affecting
long-term tourism development and the daily activities within a destination places.
(Goeldner et.al 2003)

Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Policy: Background and timeline of events

Tourism has been one of the major contributors to the State’s economy, with
estimated 50-60% of state’s population involved directly or indirectly in tourism

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related activities (MIR, 2014) Yet, until 2015, there was no comprehensive tourism
policy in the state. The first initiative towards a formalized tourism policy was taken in
1995 when the State Government declared tourism as an industry. The Jammu and
Kashmir Government, with the assistance of Department of Tourism took steps
towards formulation of the Tourism Policy in the state to boost the tourism sector in a
sustainable manner. Unfortunately, due to insurgency and political situation in the
valley,(Government of Jammu and Kashmir, 2015) the policy kept on getting
delayed. It was not until 2015, under Dr. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s government,
that the state government came up with a draft tourism policy that focused on laying
a roadmap for tourism in the state from 2015-2025. The vision of the policy was “to
make Tourism the Prime engine of Economic development in Jammu and Kashmir
by positioning it as a leading global destination by the year 2025, contribute to social
and economic well-being of the people of J&K state by providing employment
opportunities, inclusive promotional and developmental policies with a goal to
achieve internationally competitive tourism sector focused on sustainable growth".

The broad timeline of different initiatives towards the policy formulation is shown
below:

1995:
Decleration of 2015:
tourism as an Formulation of
industry. First effort Draft tourism
towards making a policy with vision
tourism policy 2025

2013: 2017:
Mufti Mohammed Mehbooba Mufti
Sayed set-up Tourism commits to unveil
Advisory Committee formal tourism
policy with ‘vision
2030’ in next 6
months

Experience of citizens
As mentioned above, 50-60% of state’s population is directly or indirectly involved in
tourism related activities. Tourism policy, if implemented will directly impact the
livelihoods of those engaged in hotel industry, infrastructure development,
transportation and related industry.
We contacted Rauf Tramboo, President, Travel and Tour Operators in the Valley for
his view on the Tourism policy. He welcomed the Comprehensive Tourism Policy

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and said that a comprehensive tourism policy is necessary for state tourism and will
lay a road map so that tourist places get developed fast on modern lines to cater to a
large tourist inflow with minimal adverse impact on the environment. Such a policy
will also help in attracting entrepreneurs for creation of tourism infrastructure like
hotels, guest accommodations and restaurants. This will create employment
opportunities for numerous jobless youth in the state.

Key Stakeholders
1. State Government: Drafting and implementation of tourism policy at the state
level comes under the purview of the state government under the current
constitutional setup. The current PDP-BJP has taken the right steps in
reviving the issue again after a gap of over a decade, and setting up a tourism
advisory committee for drafting a tourism policy. After the sudden demise of
former CM, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 2015, who was responsible for the
idea of comprehensive tourism policy, the policy was in a state of limbo until
current CM, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti took it up in March 2017 and committed ₹
2400 Cr towards the tourism industry and committed to come up with the
policy within six months (yet to be out) (Hindu, 2017) .
2. Department of Tourism: The prime responsibilities of the Department
include the planning and execution of development schemes, upgradation,
restoration and expansion of the tourism infrastructure in the state. The
Department also carries out the task of overall planning, promotion, marketing
& publicity and regulating travel-trade in terms of Jammu and Kashmir
registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1978/82 (Government of Jammu and
Kashmir, 2014)
3. Tourism Advisory Committee: It was set-up by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in
2013 to take up the formulation of the draft policy. The broad features of the
comprehensive policy were to develop and expand tourism industry in a
manner so that J&K becomes a model of advanced tourism in the country for
internal as well as external tourists. A meeting of the CM and Tourism
Advisory Committee was committed in November 2015 where the issue of
having Tourism Policy was deliberated upon. After the meeting, the members
of Tourism advisory committee held wide-ranging discussions to suggest
short, medium and long-term steps aimed at supporting J&K’s resurgence as
a popular and wholesome travel destination.

Institutions and Structures

In addition to the key stakeholders responsible for implementation and
execution, the tourism department also needs to take into consideration various
inter-departmental and institutional linkages. For the policy to be successful,

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 there needs to be integrated efforts of tourism department with these
departments. These departments are shown below

Tourism related stake

holders (J&K Cable car
corporation, Development
Authorities, gondola )

Infrastructure Departments of
(Key departments Key Stakeholders:
Interdepartmental Handicraft,
PDD, PHE, SMC, Horticulture,
PWD, (R&B) Linkages Floriculture

Wildlife / Forest

A Tourism Coordination Committee was to be set up under the Chairmanship of the

State Chief Secretary consisting of Administrative Secretaries of relevant
departments to arrive at solutions on such matters that may require
interdepartmental coordination. The committee will also advise on general policies
and planning of tourism-related activities which includes infrastructural development,
promotion, monitoring, maintenance and growth of the Tourism and Hospitality
Industry in J&K.

Policy Elements
The draft Tourism policy strives towards creating a sustainable environment for
growth and promotion of Tourism in J&K by addressing and providing guiding
framework relating to governance, tourism infrastructure, man force, standard of
services and safety and security of tourists. (The detailed objectives of the policy can
be accessed here: http://jkforestadm.nic.in/pdfs/JK_ECO_POLICY_2016.pdf)
Targets and Timeline: - The targets for the development of tourism infrastructure
has been divided into three terms i.e. short term for next 1-3 years, medium term for
3-5 years and long term for 5-10 years. All of the projects of the tourism
infrastructural development will be completed in accordance with this target time
period depending on the nature of the project

Tourism infrastructure: The ultimate success of Tourism Policy of Jammu and

Kashmir is dependent on the development of desired levels of suitable
infrastructure which include accommodation, transportation, information and

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 communication links and other essential amenities. For development of infrastructure
to support policy initiatives, emphasis should be given on developing new tourist
circuits and destinations covering themes like Mughal, heritage, cultural, Sufism,
tribal etc. It should be facilitating development of accommodation for all customer
segments in the form of cottages, camping sites, dorms, traveler hostels & yatrinivas
at various tourist destinations with functional solid waste management system. Also,
efforts should be made to Maximize revenue by leveraging resources of existing
hotels in the state via Public-Private Partnership.

Tourism infrastructure ladder

Asset Description
Knowledge History,
Road, Air-
information,
Distance
Booking
frequency and
costs
Access

Support
services

Primar
Infrastructure
y
Destination (roads, Hotels,
Assets Signage, PC,
location
Restaurants
etc.)

Latest updates on the policy

After the demise of Sayeed in January 2016, Tourism Advisory Committee met and
deliberated on the draft of policy framed by the Department of Tourism. However, the
steps which were initiated on the instructions of the then Chief Minister failed to
reach the logical conclusion in spite of considerable period of time having passed.
The Committee did not proceed with the mandate and the matter was almost
relegated to the back seat. For nearly two years the exercise had begun but could
not come to any conclusion due to evident lack of top leadership support and
pressure. The net result was that the Department of Tourism remained contented
with what it was having today and ran its affairs with usual budgetary provisions.

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In march 2017, current CM, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti took up the policy and committed
₹2400 Cr towards the tourism industry. Mr. Farooq Shah, state Tourism secretary
said: “We are planning release the policy which is currently in the final stages, within
the next six months. The policy will lay down the roadmap for tourism till 2030.”
He said the State government is planning to invest ₹2,400 crores over the next 4
years for development of tourism and expects the private sector investment to the
tune of ₹30,000 crore over the next 10 years.(Hindu, 2017)
We contacted Mr. Mahmood Shah, director of Tourism, Kashmir for his opinion
and latest updates on the policy. He said that the department has framed a draft of
the tourism policy which would made functional soon.
He said that the Government is working to get the suggestions and viewpoints from
the experts in the field and tourism players which can also be included in the draft of
the policy. The process of holding deliberations with certain stakeholders was still on
and after that the Draft Tourism Policy would be placed before Cabinet”. He,
however, failed to mention any time-frame for the completion of the exercise
especially when considering the fact that decision to have a comprehensive Tourism
Policy was taken almost two years back.

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References

The Hindu. (2017, March 17). J&K to have tourism policy soon: official. Retrieved
February 24, 2018, from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/jk-to-
have-tourism-policy-soon-official/article17524265.ece
Government of Jammu and Kashmir (2014), Directorates of Economics and
Statistics, Economic Survey 2013-2014, pg. 358
Government of Jammu and Kashmir (2015), Department of Tourism, “Draft Tourism
Policy, doc. 2014- 2015.)

Mir, H. A. (2014, June). Impact of Tourism Industry on Economic Development of Jammu

and Kashmir. Retrieved February 24, 2018, from
https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Impact-of-Tourism-Industry-on-Economic-
Development-of-Jammu-and-Kashmir.pdf
Goeldner, C. R., & Ritchie, J. R. B., (2003). Tourism, Principles, Practices,
Philosophies (9th ed.), (New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2003), 413.

Nandan, K. (2013, February 6). Tourism to stay in state list. Retrieved February 24,
2018, from http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/tourism-to-
stay-in-state-list-105062401088_1.html

TNN. (2002, September 07). 8 states say no to putting tourism on Concurrent List -
Times of India. Retrieved February 24, 2018, from
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/8-states-say-no-to-putting-tourism-on-
Concurrent-List/articleshow/21498184.cms

Dayananda, K. C., & Leelavathi, D. S. (2016, December). Evolution of Tourism Policy in

India: An overview. Retrieved February 24, 2018, from
http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.%2021%20Issue12/Version-
1/E2112013743.pdf

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