Kashmir eyes tourists from Bangladesh

Tourism players in Kashmir are seeking a pie from the rising number of tourists arriving into India from Bangladesh, which overtook the United States for the highest number of tourist arrivals in India last year.

In 2017, 1.7 million tourists from Bangladesh visited India. It was the highest number of tourists visiting India from any single country, Mehmood Shah, director of the state tourism department, told reporters, according to a report published in business-standard.com on Wednesday.

Out of these, just 1,800-odd Bangladeshi tourists visited Kashmir, which was very low and insignificant, he said. "This number just represents scratching the tip of the iceberg."

Highlighted the similarities between Bangladesh and Kashmir, Shah said: "We share the passion for cricket, there are religious commonalities-we have a Sufi circuit-other avenues like adventure tourism, besides the natural landscape and beauty."

There are many Kashmiris who have studied degree courses from Bangladesh while some are visiting that country for business as well. The interaction over the past couple of years has increased, he said.

A group of travel and tour operators was in Kashmir on a familiarisation tour and visited various tourists spots like Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Tulip Garden. The head of the delegation, Rezaul Ekram, said there was a lot of potential in regional tourism as has been seen in South-East Asian countries.