Tourists asked to arrive by air, have advance bookings in hotels, to undergo COVID test at Srinagar Airport
Bashir Bhat
Srinagar, July 12: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday decided to reopen Jammu and Kashmir for tourism activities in phased manner from Tuesday onwards but issued strict guidelines to be followed by the tourists and people associated with the hospitality sector.
A government order no.67-JK (DMRRR) dated July 12, 2020, stated: “Whereas, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to open the tourism sector in a phased manner w.e.f 14.072020. In view of the COVID related measures, it is felt imperative to put in place a protocol to be followed by the tourists as well as the persons/authorities engaged in the hospitality sector. As such, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 24 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the guidelines are hereby issued by the State Executive Committee for regulating the entry of tourists in the UT of J& K. Any deviation from this order shall attract penal action under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.”
The guidelines issued by the government are:
General
These guidelines apply to entry of tourists to the Union Territory of J&K in Phase-I. In this phase, there will be a partial opening of the tourism sector for external visitors from outside J&K, limited to tourists arriving by air only. All in-coming tourists must have confirmed hotel bookings for the duration of their stay. All in-coming tourists must have confirmed return air tickets to any place outside J&K, either to their departure point or any other destination. There shall be compulsory RTPCR testing, of all tourists on arrival. Taxis /transport facility have to be pre-booked through hotel / 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 Tourism department will make arrangements to ensure that the guidelines are followed in all respects.
Arrival, Testing and Accommodations _
Tourists have to mandatorily pre-book their accommodation online in hotels, houseboats or guesthouses etc. The proof of the same shall be checked on arrival. Taxis that transport tourists to the hotel shall also be pre-booked by the hotels / travel agencies. The list of such hotels and travel agencies will be available on the website of J&K Tourism. Only tourists coming by air shall be permitted. On arrival there shall be compulsory RTPCR testing of all the tourists at the airport of arrival. Till the test result shows a negative result for COVID 19 a tourist will remain in the hotel where booking has been made and shall not be permitted to move out. A form to this effect shall have to be signed at the airport. Test results will normally arrive within 24 hours except in special circumstances. The hotel management shall be required to ensure compliance with this protocol.
Those tourists arriving with COVID negative reports from their departure points will not be required to remain isolated in hotels. They shall, however, be also required to give their sample for RTPCR testing on arrival at the airport. Tourists testing positive will be sent for treatment to a medical facility as per protocol.
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.
Aaroqva Setu
All tourists should have the Arogya 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.
Departure
The 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.
