Bhopal, Jan 17: The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India in its Annual Convention held here from Jan 15 to 17 conferred a special honour on Mohammad Ashraf, the former Director General of Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir for his contribution to the promotion and development of Adventure Tourism. The Association every year confers two prestigious awards called the “Hall of Fame Award” on persons contributing significantly in the field of Adventure Tourism. The other recipient is Ajit Bajaj, the famous explorer who has been to Antarctica. The Awards were given away by Omar Abdullah, the J & K Chief Minister who was the Chief Guest in the function. Due to some unavoidable reasons Mr.Ashraf was not able to reach Bhopal and the award was received by Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister Tourism and Culture, J & K, on his behalf.

Ashraf has had a long tenure of 30 years in Tourism out of which he has been the Chief Executive of the Department for 11 years. He has been actively involved in the promotion of Tourism to Kashmir and Ladakh even after his retirement. He has given many presentations and held road shows on Kashmir and Ladakh in Middle East and Europe in collaboration with Air India and Indian Airlines. He has also been writing columns in a number of English dailies on the subject of Tourism and has published a collection of commentaries on Environment and Tourism in relation to Kashmir. In 1992 he was awarded “Merite Alpin” by the Mayor of Diablerets, Switzerland for his efforts in developing mountain rescue in the Himalaya. He has been a member of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, the apex body of adventure in India for last 28 years and has been twice its Vice-President. Apart from pioneering and promoting many adventure activities like white water rafting and kayaking, Raide de Himalaya car rally, Ashraf introduced the famous French Skier Sylvain Saudan also called the “Impossible Skier” to Kashmir for starting Heli-Skiing. The sport of Heli-Skiing became very popular among European tourists and continued in the peak of turmoil in Kashmir.

ATOAI has decided to hold its next convention in Kashmir. This is expected to give a boost to the development of Adventure Tourism in the state.