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Foreigners are virtually ignoring travel advisories from their respective countries not to visit Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Kargil crisis.

Foreigners are keen to spend their holidays in the serene surroundings of the picturesque valley in spite of the Kargil conflict.

Initially, the Kargil crisis resulted in a drop of tourists coming to the Valley in May and early June, but the tourist traffic started picking up in the last few weeks. On an average 100 to 150 tourists, mainly foreigners, are reaching Srinagar everyday by the three flights operating at present between the state capital and Delhi, director general of state tourism department Mohammed Ashraf said.

He said till date, 12,000 foreigners have visited the Valley, the largest number coming from the south-east Asian region -- Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. A sizeable number of tourists have also come from Germany, France and the Netherlands.

He said the state officials are in constant touch with the missions of various European nations to convince them to encourage their tourists to visit the Valley. Diplomats of various embassies and high commissions have also been invited to visit Srinagar to make an on the spot study of the ground situation.

The state government has published brochures on Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu and these have been sent to all tourist offices of the government in foreign countries.

Ashraf said Kargil, which was a battlefield for more than two months, is now being promoted as a tourist spot. The Kargil sector has one of the best tourist spots, which include Mushkoh valley and Drass, one of the coldest inhabited places in the world.

In 1998 there was a dramatic rise in tourist traffic to the Valley, due to the return of normalcy. The state government announced a special package for house boat owners and taxi drivers. The government has waived Rs 30 million loan to house boat owners and others. About 67 per cent of the current year's capital outlay has been earmarked for revival package and incentives to private sector.

Ashraf said serious efforts are being made to develop Ladakh as a pilgrim tourist place. The state government has requested the Centre to open the Ladakh route for the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, and the matter has been taken up with the Chinese government.

UNI

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