These days it is the season of festivities in West Bengal in view of the upcoming Durga Puja festival. But what has added to these festivities is the decision of the J&K Government to open up tourism sector in J&K with easing of COVID restrictions. In this backdrop, a team of officials from J&K Tourism have been holding series of meetings with the representatives of Tour and Travel industry of West Bengal.

The J&K Tourism officials met prominent Tour operators of the State and representatives of various tourist trade bodies including Manav Soni, Chairman, Travel Agents Association of India ( TAAI)-Eastern Region,  Mr Somnath Chowdhary, President, Travel Agents Association of Bengal ( TAAB), Mr Sanjeev Mehra, President, SKAL- Kolkata, Mr Anil Punjabi, Chairman, Travel Agents Federation of India ( TAFI)-WB, Mr Madan Agarwal, Charmain, Association of Tourism Service Providers of Bengal (ATSPB), Mr Debjit Dutta, Chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India- WB and host of other Tour Operators.

In these meetings, the heads of the Tour bodies said that these were the first face to face interactions ever by any State/UT since the pandemic swept the country and the world. The Travel Association heads were all praise for the J&K Tourism for taking this bold initiative and being the first to do so in the entire country. " After months of virtual meetings, thanks to the initiative of the J&K Government, we are interacting in the actual" remarked Mr Manav Soni, Chairman TAAI-Eastern Region.

President, TAAB, Mr Somnath Chowdhary while describing his long association with J&K Tourism said that " In these gloomy days, J&K has come out with a ray of hope for the Tourism Stakeholders of West Bengal and the rest of the country for which we cannot thank them enough. All other States must now take a que and move in a positive direction for the revival of the Tourism Industry in the country”.

West Bengal accounts for among the top most Tourist sending states to J&K. “Ask any Bengali about his choices to visit and you will always find  Kashmir at the top" said  President SKAl- Kolkata, Mr Sanjeev Mehra.

The J&K Tourism officials gave an overview of the emerging tourist scenario in the UT with a host of activities being planned for the autumn and the coming winter season.

Tourist Officer, Kolkata, Ehsan ul Haq Syed moderated these meetings.