Sec Tourism flags off Bahrain Bikers’ rally to Downtown Srinagar

Srinagar, Oct 13: Secretary Tourism Kashmir, SarmadHafeez Thursday said Bahrain Bikers expedition in the valley is a positive sign for Kashmir tourism and we are soon going to regain the number one position of tourist place in the country. He said this while flagging off a group of 18 bikers from Bahrain to Downtown Srinagar from Sangarmal.
Bahrain Bikers-a group of 18 bikers (16 males and two females) bikers from Bahrain who were flagged off in presence of Director Tourism Kashmir, FazlulHaseeb, President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industries (KCCI) Sheikh Ashiq, member KCCI, Sheikh Feroze and members of Travel and Trade.
While terming the biking expedition of ‘Bahrain Bikers’ as a positive sign for Kashmir, Secretary Tourism said that the tourism department and other stakeholders are doing a lot from a long time which is now showing results on the ground.
He said that it is a really pleasant moment for all people of the valley that the first group of gulf country “Bahrain Bikers” have arrived in Kashmir and congratulated all the stakeholders involved in this endeavor.
“We are soon going to regain the position as the no.1 tourist place in the country, the place that we rightly deserve,” he said.
He hoped that the expedition would open gates for many other such activities as Kashmir has much to offer in adventure tourism.
He also expressed his gratitude to Bahrain Bikers and KCCI for organizing the biking expedition and said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between KCCI and Bahrain Small & Medium Enterprises Society (BSMES) in September is showing fruitful results. He maintained that this is the beginning of other tourism related activities and Kashmir has a potential to become the biking capital of the world.
He said that activities like biking expeditions would give a positive message to the outside world as outside people have certain perceptions about visiting Kashmir.
“Kashmir has a potential to become the world’s best adventure tourism destination. We want to make it a hub of adventure tourism and will make Kashmir a dream destination in adventure tourism,” he said.
Ali Ansari, group leader of Bahrain Bikers, praised the hospitality and generosity of Kashmir and its people on the occasion.
He said that they received a lot of love and affection from the people wherever they visited in Kashmir and expressed his gratitude to KCCI for facilitating such an exciting biking expedition to Kashmir.
A female biker in the team Priya Shankar said that the trip was full of adventure with stunning landscapes, mountainous picturesque roads etc.
Mehdi Hassan, Captain Bahrain Bikers said that he has been to various places around the globe but didn’t find a place like Kashmir.
“We did start our trip on October 04 from Leh as the plan was to explore Ladakh and Kashmir,” he said, and added, “Kashmir is one of the best destinations I ever did ride into. Though I did ride in the US, Europe and GCC and other countries but did not find places like Kashmir as an adventure tourist destination.”
Another Biker, Zakarya said that the sole purpose behind this trip was to explore Kashmir, especially its mountains, river and city. “We enjoyed the environment of Kashmir and especially oxygen, mountains and alpine lakes,” he said.
Bahrain Bikers trip to Kashmir started on October 04 from Leh to Kashmir and where these bikers visited several places in the expedition including Nubra, Leh, Kargil, Sonamarg, Pahalgam etc.
Certificates of participation were awarded among all the participants of Bahrain Bikers for the expedition on the occasion.