Thai travel agents make a date with Valley

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 22

As a part of efforts to attract tourists from Southeast Asia, the Kashmir Vision Tours and Travels (KVTT) conducted a familiarisation (fam) tour for travel agents of Thailand.

Even as the Tourism Department had been conducting such tours for tour operators, KVTT member Habib Wangnoo said the private stakeholders also needed to do their bit to bring back tourists.

“Tourists from the countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are visiting Kashmir and they have great love for the Valley’s scenic beauty, Mughal gardens, lakes, age-old famous architecture besides food, culture, art and craft. Therefore, we conducted a four-day tour of Thai travel agents that concluded on Sunday,” he said.

Pertinently, the tourism sector had been hit hard by the unrest last year sparked by the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani. This year, both the Tourism Department and the private players participated in several travel marts outside the state to bring back tourists. The Tourism Department also conducted fam tours for travel agents drawn from different parts of the county as a part of the efforts to boost tourism.

The group of seven leading travel agents from Thailand was led by Tourism Industry Association of Thailand (TIAT) president Penny Ritthikan. The travel agents were taken to different tourist spots across the Valley. After the visit, the agents promised that they would promote Kashmir in Thailand.

“Travel agents are the main promoters of any destination. We have visited this place to take pictures and see by ourselves the tourism products which we can offer to travellers wishing to travel to Kashmir. We are very happy that we are here where we get to see natural beauty,” said Penny.