Tourism stakeholders miffed over last-minute cancellation of OTM participation

Srinagar, Jan 28: Tourism stakeholders of Kashmir Tuesday expressed their anger of the last-minute cancellation of Outbound Travel Mart (OTM)being held at Mumbai from January 30 to February 1.
A statement issued here said that the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) convened a meeting here that was attended by heads, representatives of 20 hotel, houseboat, travel and tour organisations of Kashmir to deliberate upon the serious situation arising out of the department of tourism’s sudden decision to cancel participation in the Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) being held at Mumbai from January 30 to February 1.
“The department of Tourism for more than two decades had been participating in tourism promotional fairs and this year too had allocated space to representatives of various Associations. The participating stakeholders had already travelled to Mumbai to be met with the rude shock and at the eleventh hour informed that they could not participate in the OTM owing to Government’s cancellation decision,” the statement said. “All the participants in the meeting expressed collective frustration regarding the mishandling one of the most important tourism promotional events annually held in Mumbai. The members were aghast at the mess created by the department of Tourism in handling basic issues and make them very difficult to resolve. In this the participants vociferously expressed concern over the sudden cancellation in OTM which had subjected OTM participants from Kashmir in a difficult and financially burdensome position in Mumbai.”
The statement said that directorate of tourism Kashmir had allocated a specific quota for travel and trade bodies to represent Kashmir at the OTM. “Organisations were instructed to distribute these seats among their members through a process, each charged Rs 10,000 by tourism department as participation fees in advance besides arranging their own lodging, boarding and travel arrangements. However, upon arrival in Mumbai, all the members were informed at the last minute they could not participate in the tourism trade fair since tourism department had decided to cancel its participation. This, unfortunately, when a large number of participants carrying allocation letters and entry cards had already reached Mumbai.”
The statement said that all representatives of travel and tourism organisations in the meeting at the Chamber office expressed strong discontent regarding the apparent negligence and lack of seriousness exhibited by the tourism department. “Stakeholders emphasised that they had invested significant amounts in travel, promotional printing material and accommodation, only to be denied the opportunity to showcase Kashmir as a premier travel destination at one of the largest tourism fairs in the country,” the statement said. “This incident undermines local businesses’ efforts and jeopardises Kashmir’s promotion as a tourist destination. Such mismanagement creates a disconnect in promotional activities and damages the reputation of the region’s tourism sector. Moreover, when the prominent space booked by department of tourism will remain conspicuous by its absence.”
Moreover, the travel trade members raised concerns about the tourism department’s ongoing disregard for their participation in other tourism trade fairs, which are crucial for promoting Kashmir’s rich cultural and natural heritage. “The stakeholders firmly believe that these events have been instrumental in attracting visitors and enhancing the region’s tourism profile. They expressed disgust over the treatment meted out to this sector which significantly contributes to States Revenues and demanded constitution of a tourism board to overlook its working instead of leaving its working to personnel with little or zero experience of running a department like tourism,” the statement said.