Ladakh receives over 2.77 lakh tourists last year; bags "best Adventure Tourism Destination" award

NewsBharati    02-Apr-2018
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New Delhi, April 2: Ladakh, the land of high passes and cold desert of Jammu and Kashmir received record number of over 2.77 lakh tourists last year. Therefore, Ladakh bagged the "best Adventure Tourism Destination" award at the Outlook Traveller Awards 2018. 

Director Tourism Kashmir Mahmood Ahmad Shah during the award ceremony said the tourism department has taken concerted efforts to promote adventure tourism and sports in Ladakh. He said that the trekking activities like Chadar trek on the frozen Zanskar River, hiking to Stok Kangri (6121 m) and Nun and Kun Peaks (7135 m), besides biking to Pangong Lake are popular activities attracting a large number of travellers.

The Director further noted that double hump camel rides and traditional sports of horse polo and archery also attract adventure enthusiast from across the world. He further added that the tourism department also organized Kargil road show twice in the last year to highlight the potential of the region among adventure travellers.

BACKGROUND:

Ladakh is a mountainous region in the disputed northwest Jammu and Kashmir area in north India and in the area known as the Trans-Himalaya. It's slightly smaller than Scotland, the settled population live between 2700m and 4500m, and nomadic encampments even higher, and it's the largest and the least populated region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The people are a mixture of Buddhist and Muslim 50% of each. Buddhists are the majority in the east close to the Chinese border and a slight majority overall while Muslims have the majority in the north and west. Travellers are likely to see more of the Buddhists as the majority of the tourist attractions are in the east and directly related to Tibetan Buddhist culture. The beauty of the place cannot be expressed in words. Right from gompas to the sensational momos, the superabundance of attractions to visit makes this city make it heaven on earth.