Minister of State for Education, Technical Education, Culture, Tourism, Department of Horticulture, Floriculture and Parks Priya Sethi today laid thrust on developing the state owned JKTDC properties as a ‘statement brand’ in the Hospitality sector.She said this while chairing a meeting to review the functioning of Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC).The Minister took account of the performance by JKTDC in the Jammu division including the status of infrastructure, facilities provided and allied facilities like transportation, sightseeing tours, cultural events organized etc.The Minister said that we are facing stiff competitions from other key players in the market adding that stress should be on providing state of art facility to the tourists and make their stay comfortable.“The tourists these days are well travelled and want an array of options to choose from, be it in cuisines or the rooms to stay. JKTDC properties are located in the best sites possible; we need to build on that advantage and create a trade mark in the market with our excellent service standards and the ‘best value for money’ deals available in the market to the people” she added.
The Minister said that a better sync mechanism is being established wherein various department including tourism, JKTDC, Floriculture etc will work in close coordination to ensure maximum development of all tourist sites and ensure increase in influx of tourists in these areas. She further said that packages are being developed to attract tourist and smoothen their trip to make it hassle free.“The enriching experience of Jammu and Kashmir that we are developing for the tourists will remain with our guests and ensure that they will want to repeat this experience time and again”, she added.Managing Director JKTDC Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary gave a detailed overview of the physical and financial achievements of the organization and informed about the projects recently accomplished by the JKTDC including that of Corporate Office TRC Srinagar, Pahalgam Club & Convention Centre, and reconstruction of Zaiqa Guest House & Restaurant Tangmarg.The JKTDC also had New Additions in properties in Leh-Ladakh consisting of three buildings: Guest House, Tourist Bungalow & Club House and Chenab View Hotel & Restaurant in Jia Pota in Akhnoor Sector comprising of 06 Rooms of AC & Non-AC category, Restaurant & a Banquet Hall.The chair was further informed about the future projects of the corporation including construction of Royal Block in TRC Srinagar with an estimated project cost of Rs 800 Lakh.
The project includes 30 Premium Double-Bedrooms, Gymnasium, Laundry, Library, Open Air Restaurant, Parking in Ground Floor apart from other basic facilities and is expected to be completed in 18 months time.The second project in the ambit of JKTDC is the construction of Tawi View Block in TRC Jammu comprising of 48 Premium Double-Bedrooms, Open Air Restaurant, 2-Layer Parking apart from other basic facilities. The project being executed at an estimated cost of 1300 lakh is expected to be complete in 24 months.It was also given out in the meeting that JKTDC is also working on intensifying the marketing and publicity of the Corporation properties through Online and Offline modes. Online Modes will include; Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Google) and association with various booking engines like goibibo, makemytrip, stayzilla, trivago etc and the offline modes will include participation in TTFs, IITMs, OTMs, conducting of food festivals, interactive programs with leading tour operators of the country and publicity through print & electronic media.The Minister was also informed that the corporation has recently completed the redesigning of JKTDC website and developed JKTDC Android App for enquiry & booking both of which will be launched shortly.Among others General Manager, Area Managers, Project Managers of JKTDC were also present in the meeting.