J&K govt to set up 20 Ayush villages to tap wellness tourism market

SRINAGAR:   Jammu and Kashmir is setting up 20 Ayush Grams (Ayush villages) to tap the ever-increasing health and wellness tourism market.

All the Aysush Grams will be set up near the tourist destinations as an add-on feature to tap the market.

“We will be developing 20 Ayush Grams in the first phase. These villages will be near popular tourist places. For example, we can develop these villages in the Tangmarg area so that the tourists who visit Gulmarg can also spend some time in these Grams. Likewise, we are looking at villages near Batagund in Pahalgam so that too can be developed into Ayush Grams,” Dr. Mohan Singh, Director Ayush, Jammu, and Kashmir, told The Kashmir Monitor

Traditional therapies, interventions, pain management, and other facilities will be made available in these villages. Officials said they want to create an island where people can relax and detox. From food to exercise, the Ayush Grams will have everything organic.

  “We will have cupping treatments. Yoga and other interventions will also be held so that tourists will go back home fit and fab,” Dr. Singh said.

Ayush Grams are in addition to wellness centers being set up at prominent tourist destinations to help people de-stress.

Wellness centers are being set up at Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Srinagar, Gulmarg, Katra, Patnitop, and other places. Tourists could bask under nature to detox before leaving for their homes.

The centers will be having Panchkarma, regiminal therapies, yoga interventions, cupping, and other activities to improve the holistic health of visitors.

Global Wellness Institute has defined wellness tourism as “travel associated to maintain or enhance one’s well-being and includes the pursuit of physical, mental, spiritual or environmental ‘wellness’ while traveling for either leisure or business.”

Official figures reveal around 2.7 million tourists visited Kashmir last year. This year, the valley is expecting another bumper tourism season.  In the first two months of 2023, over 2.5 lakh tourists have already visited Kashmir and the numbers are increasing with each passing day. 

Till April, over four lakh tourists have visited Kashmir with the number surging as the summer season nears. The government is expecting to host more than two crore in Jammu and Kashmir this year.