Hi there,
Nothing works out without a good weather. So its prefect September kind of romance in the air. Foreign visitors are still coming they are so happy to be here. They so much heard about the place and were preparing for a longtime to come here!
Gya meru
They are trekking in the Markha valley, Tar-hipti, Gya-Tsomoriri, Likir- Ang valley. They are car safariing into Nubra valley and toTurtuk and falls in love the place also its people and culture. In their tour to Pangoong Lake and Tsomoriri they are just spell bound by the share vastness of the space!
Year 2024! Is the golden jubilee year of tourism in Ladakh, especially the foreign visitors?
tourism workshop
I was in my middle standard in Tyandle Biscoe Memorial School in Srinagar Kashmir when our region was open for international visitors. That is, in the year 1974, about 550 foreign tourists came in a short season beginning 1st of July and ending 31st August.
That changed Ladakh forever for the better and good! It brought in money and every year the number of tourists went up. Civil flights began operating a decade later which further increased the arrival of foreign tourists.
learning sharing
Beginning with home-stays, camping sites, small guest houses and few leading families owning hotels; Leh was like a mini foreign-hub with old market full of blond people and later many began to feel skeptic about it, that it would change Ladakh for ever?
Change has definitely come about but our tourism intervention had been very cautious and mindful. This is because of the enlightened foreign visitors who brought in information regarding the dark side of tourism; stating what had happened in Thailand where tourism undertook the flesh trade; very vociferous during 1980’s and 1990’s.
Exchanging views
The Ladakh’s bastion of civil societies became the watch dog for such trends in Ladakh and thankfully we were able to contain our tourism into the cultural aspect along with adventure tourism later on and now it is heading for extreme and moderate sports such as Marathon, mountaineering and rafting and cycling!
moderate sports of adventure
So far the tourism arrival of both domestic and foreign had been satisfactory and there is slight increase in the arrival of forign visitors as compared to last year.
There is also need for looking into the spiritual or the wellness or healing aspect of the tourism where Ladakh has great potential in the future! Bye for now.