Tourism Secretary flags off Raid de Himalaya rally

Secretary, Tourism, Farooq Ahmad Shah flagged off the 17th Raid de Himalaya motor rally from the Royal Spring Golf Course here this morning.

As many as 240 cars and bikes are participating in the rally, which commenced in Shimla on October 11 and passed through Manali, Dalhousie, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar before reaching Srinagar on October 13 via the Sinthan Top. The rally today proceeded for Drass and will be back on October 16.

Shah said such events were organised to promote adventure tourism. He said J&K had the highest number of tracks available for such an activity.

The secretary further said: “Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who also holds the Tourism portfolio, is keen on promoting all kinds of tourism activities, including adventure tourism, in Jammu and Kashmir to attract maximum foreign as well as domestic visitors.”

“All out efforts are being made by the Tourism Department to explore adventure tourism tracks in the state,” he said.

Shah also said promotion of such activities was one of the top priorities of the department. Shah said adventure tourism was considered a high-end tourism activity and initiatives had been taken to cater to the needs of foreign as well as domestic tourists visiting the state for the purpose

.He said participants in the rally would be our ambassadors, who would propagate the message about adventure sports and tracks available in Jammu and Kashmir.