Tourism Directorate hosts 5 KM Trekking expedition from Jungle Gali to Sukhal Gali

JAMMU: To Promote Tourism in general and Adventure Tourism in particular, the Directorate of Tourism, Jammu in association with JASA on Tuesday organized one day Trek from Jungle Gali to Sukhal Gali which is situated at foothills of Trikuta hills in district Udhampur.

A group of 150 Trekkers including bloggers, travel writers, photographers and prominent media persons were flagged off by Kanta Devi, Additional District Development Commissioner, Udhampur and Natasha Kalsotra, Joint Director Tourism, Jammu from Jungle Gali near Tikri for the 5 KM trekking passing through small streams, sloppy hills and meadows amid variety of flora and fauna presenting a delightful sight. Huge peaks and hillocks on the way promise to keep the journey magnificent. The surroundings are a visual treat, particularly for nature lovers.

The Joint Director Tourism informed that the motive of organizing this Trekking was to promote Adventure Tourism in Reasi and Udhampur Districts and to divert lakhs of pilgrims visiting Katra to other destinations in and around Jammu. “This will also help in promoting the unexplored destinations of Jammu Division and boost the economy of the area and generate employment opportunities for the host population”, she added.

She further informed that a series of Events and Adventure activities are in the pipeline in coming months which shall help in boosting tourism in Jammu region. She asked the Trekkers to post the scenic locations on their blogs while traversing through the area to promote the destination. Several participants of the Trekking , said, “with resumption of such activities by the Tourism Department post COVID, we are hopeful that these destinations will have a good tourist footfall this year and shall compensate for the loss of the tourism sector to a large extent.”

Robin Singh Mehta, Chairman Jammu Adventure Sports Association (JASA) appreciated the initiative of the Tourism Department and said that involvement of local communities in Tourism related activities are an integral part of Tourism promotions.

Arvind Kotwal, Retired Government Officer, also welcomed the thoughts of Mehta and shared some invaluable inputs with respect to Tourism promotion among the participants.

Naresh Kumar, Deputy Director Tourism, Jammu besides other officers and officials of the Tourism Department were present on the occasion.