Ladakh has, for long, remained one of the most fascinating tourist destinations across the globe, pulling visitors from all over the country and the world, alike, with a huge potential to become a truly global tourism destination. With the region getting a full-fledged UT status, the Centre government and the UT administration has made the best of the sea of opportunities in terms of expansion of tourism and allied sectors, for prosperity, that stand Infront of Ladakh, today.
With the sustainability of the environment and local interests at the heart of its agenda, the administration has undertaken some major initiatives in these three years, concerning the Tourism sector. Home Stay Policy has been formulated to encourage rural tourism and equitably spread the tourism economy between rural and urban centres, while the administration has been actively promoting Zanskar, Drass and Changthang as new tourist destinations.
The administration has opened several areas, earlier restricted to promote tourism in border areas, while round the year tourism is being encouraged through various initiatives, with the highlight being the Dark Sky Sanctuary at Hanle, a destination for Astro tourism adding a new dimension to experiential tourism.
In order to strengthen the Tourism sector, the UT administration has taken a number of initiatives which includes:
- Incentivised items worth Rs 5 Crore given to 550 Homestays
- Collaboration with OYO for training Homestay owners
- Organising festivals such as Apricot Blossom Festival, Winter Festival, Buckwheat festival etc, round the year
- A tripartite MoU for development of the Dark Sky Reserve at Hanle between UT Administration, LAHDC Leh, and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics
- Opening of new areas to tourists and tourism promotion in border areas
- Focussed attention on development and preservation of Monasteries, Cultures centres & Hot springs
- Launch of tourist police wing with emergency support
- As a result of these initiatives, the tourist arrival has increased around 74%, after reorganisation of the region into UT. Ladakh has registered tourist footfall of 4,86,950 in 2022 from 2,79,937 in 2019
