Leh: The world's highest inhabited plateau, Ladakh, has created history by attracting the largest number of tourists in last five decades, after suffering a tourist drought in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict.

"Ladakh has beaten all the records in past as the highest number of 27,920 tourists have visited the frontier region just in seven months period of this year (2003)," Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Gulam Hassan Mir said.

The land of lamas and gompas has broken tourist arrival record of 1988, when 24,864 tourists, including 16,256 foreigners, had visited Ladakh.

"There is a flood of tourists, particularly foreigners and we expect that it will cross the 50,000 mark this year to create history for Ladakh tourism," Mir said.

A total of 2,2748 tourists visited Ladakh in 1989, but eruption of militancy in Kashmir brought down the tourist flow to 6,738 in 1990.

However, in 1998, 22,030 tourists, including 15,238 from foreign countries visited Ladakh. But after Kargil war in 1999, tourist arrivals fell to 11,574 in 2000 and 8,079 in 2002, according to the tourism industry sources.

"Tension between India and Pakistan has had a negative impact on tourism in Ladakh over the years," a Leh-based tour operator, Gulam Mohideen said. Ladakh, also called moon land, has always attracted foreign tourists, who have outnumbered the domestic tourists since 1974 when the frontier region of Jammu and Kashmir was opened to them, the minister said.

"The tourist inflow in Leh and other parts of Ladakh registered an increase of 400 to 500 per cent in the present season and projects are underway to make this Northern region the hub of foreign tourist activity in the country," Buddhist leader and Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Information Technology, Nawang Rigzin Zora said.

The development of Leh-Manali and Leh-Shimla roads at the cost of Rs 8.5 crore would help in bringing in new people to hilly region, where tourism and agriculture remain the major sources of livelihood, he said.

At present Leh, located at 11,000 feet above sea level, is connected with the rest of the nation only through Srinagar, which is regularly disrupted due to security reasons, and Manali, where roads are not in a good condition and remained closed at times due to weather condition, Zora said.

However, the president of Travel Agents Association of Ladakh, P Kunzang expressed resentment that state government, which was projecting Kashmir by all means, has totally failed to publicise Ladakh, which has great tourism potential.

Wrapped in the golden silence of rocky terrain, Ladakh is a repository of myriad cultures, traditions, heritage spots, scenic sites and religious influences, said Nunkun Lama.

It has 30 to 40 odd ancient gompas, two to three high altitude lakes, two-dozen mountain treks, nine mountaineering virgin peaks, multiple bewitching and picturesque places amid rich flora and fauna, he added.

PTI