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New Delhi, Apr 5 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig appreciated the natural beauty of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Sikkim and urged the domestic tour operators for exploring tremendous tourism opportunities of North Eastern (NE) states.

Addressing at the inaugural session of the second one day Convention 2008 of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) held here today, he said the people knew the various places of the counry except the NE region.

He said in this respect the ADTOI had a great role to play to make the people aware of the NE region and its places.

Citing example of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Baig said the promotion of tourism led to te sharp decline in the number of militants in J&K which has come down to just 5,000 from its earlier position of 50,000 before the resumption of tourism in the state after the end of the militancy era, he added.

He suggested that a state should not develop its tourist products replicated to those available to other states. Each state should develop its own typical tourist products. The country was lagging behind in tourism infrastructures and tourism culture.

ADTOI President Mukesh Jagga said the domestic market of tourism needed to be growth at large to make the country as a leading country in tourism.

About 300 delegates comprising of tour operators, officers from state tourism departments/bodies, officials from domestic airlines and hotel chains attended the convention.

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