Bangalore: The peace waves between India and Pakistan is creating great ripples on Jammu and Kashmir's tourism map. The scenario never looked so good in 15 years.

Consider this: Domestic tourist arrivals catapulted to 2.31 lakh in 2003, compared with a mere 18,000-plus in the previous calendar year.

They are coming in droves and it appears as though they are doing so with a "vengeance" as the State, affected by militancy, did not apparently offer them a conducive atmosphere for their visit in a dozen years.

And the Jammu and Kashmir Government now says it's confident that the inflow into the border State could top six lakh in the year 2004 on par with "last normal period" witnessed in 1988.

"Last downfall was 2002. We expect more than seven lakh this year. We must cross the figure of 1988," an upbeat Tourism Minister of Jammu and Kashmir G A Mir said today (Feb 26, 2004).

The State has now adopted an aggressive strategy to woo tourists, tourism department officials said. The State has targeted corporates and film producers. Mir interacted with some of them here inviting them to the State, and was enthused by their response.

Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation's (JKTDC) senior manager, travel division, Shamim Ahmed said, "Companies such as SKF, AstraZeneca and Volvo are already on board. We have bookings from 1,400 corporate executives."

Majority of people visiting Jammu and Kashmir are from Gujarat and Maharashtra, but the Government is now making sustained efforts to attract those from other States.

"The last year's interaction of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in places like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata has started paying rich dividends," said Mir, who was in Bangalore to attend the Travel & Tourism Fair & Overseas Travel Mart, promoted as India's biggest travel show.

He said the people of the border State have realised that tourist arrivals benefit them most and its promotion is not merely a Government task.

And JKTDC officials sought to demolish misconceptions in the minds of a section of price-conscious tourists that a tour of Jammu and Kashmir is an expensive proposition.

An 11-days/10-nights Kashmir holiday package costs Rs 7,000 per person, including transportation and accommodation, while a five-days/four-nights Jammu special package costs one Rs 2,550, explained Ahmed.

Besides projecting as a honeymooner's paradise, a nature lover's wonderland and a shopper's dream come true, the State is also being promoted of late as an ideal destination for conferences and conventions.

The inter-State council meeting at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre, Congress Chief Ministers' conclave as well as recent visits of President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has raised the profile of the State in a positive way, officials noted.