Lieutenant Governor, R K Mathur convened a meeting on the prospects of promoting winter tourism in Ladakh with the Tourism Department and All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA) on October 2.

R K Mathur shared his thoughts about developing Ladakh as a world-class tourist destination with unique selling points such as its pristine mountains, the wildlife, and hot springs. He stressed on formulating an achievable plan for the next year and working towards achieving positive results using proper marketing channels and developing world-class infrastructure and providing high-end services.

Stating that safety, security, and communication are vital for tourism, he emphasized imparting quality training from world-renowned experts to adventure sports guides. He said that practicing responsible tourism must be the core.

Taking into consideration the success of Winter Conclave 2020, Commissioner/Secretary Tourism Rigzin Sampheal proposed to extend it to a week-long event with its expanse in Kargil.

General Secretary ALTOA, Deleks Namgyal through a PowerPoint presentation apprised L-G of the present scenario of Ladakh’s winter tourism and the possible new tourism products to develop it while overcoming challenges such as extreme weather conditions, climate change, lack of infrastructure, etc. He also put forth a list of ideas for execution such as ice climbing, ice skating, snow sculpting, nature walks, wildlife sighting, etc.

Director Tourism, Kunzes Angmo; President ALTOA, Tsetan Angchuk; General Secretary ALTOA, Deleks Namgyal; Assistant Director Tourism, Kargil, Agatawha and ATO Kargil, Ghulam Rasool were present during the meeting.