Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday decided to open the tourism sector in a phased manner from July 15, 2020 and allow the entry of tourists.
On Sunday, the local administration in Srinagar decided to reimpose the lockdown as cases of COVID keep rising.
Hoever, according to the government, there will be a partial opening of the tourism sector for external visitors from outside J&K, limited to tourists arriving by air only.
Keeping in view the COVID measures, government has decided to put in place a protocol that would be followed by the tourists as well as the people engaged in the hospitality sector.
The order further reads that all the in-coming tourists must have confirmed hotel bookings for the duration of their stay and must have confirmed return air tickets.
According to the order, there shall be a compulsory Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR), testing of all tourists on arrival. RTPCR is a test prescribed to detect corona virus.
The transport facility have to be pre-booked through hotel or travel agency, for which procedures will be put in place by Tourism department (to be mentioned on the website of J&K Tourism).
Tourists above the age of 65 should avoid coming on a tourism holiday, the order reads.
The online pre-book of the accommodation in hotels, houseboats or guesthouses have been made mandatory. The proof of the same shall be checked on arrival. Transport to the hotel shall also be pre-booked by the hotels or travel agencies. The list of such hotels and travel agencies will be available on the website of J&K Tourism
Pick up facility Travel agents, hotels, houseboats and guesthouses shall provide pick-up facility from the airport for their tourist guests. Prescribed social distancing norms shall be followed everywhere during transportation.
All tourists should have the Aarogya Setu app installed on their phones and shall be checked for ‘safe’ status on the Aarogya Setu app at the time of arrival before entering the premises.
Aarogya Setu is an Indian open-source CoVID-19 “Contact tracing, Syndromic mapping and Self-assessment” digital service, mobile application.
The order further reads that hotels, houseboats and guest houses or the travel agents will arrange for transport of the tourists to the airport for their departure from J&K.
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