Priyanka Saxena Ray
Spread over a span of three days, from February 18 – 20, 2021, the India Tourism Mart was held virtually this year with a physical inauguration. Taking forward its Buyers – Sellers format, the event this year saw participation from 73 countries coupled with 316 International Buyers, 240 Domestic Buyer and over 1200 delegates, who joined in virtually to participate in the mart. One of the key highlights of the ITM this year was the power packed ‘Leadership Conclave’ dotted with 14 Business Sessions and close to 75 Speakers comprising Union Ministers, Secretary Civil Aviation, leading hoteliers, heads of MICE Associations, aviation experts, medical tourism specialists, food connoisseurs, business moguls, industry leaders, opinion makers and many more.
Mr. Girish Kwatra, CEO, Meetings and More, was one of the exhibitors at the ITM-virtual this year and seemed extremely pleased with the way meetings were conducted. “The exhibition was well put together with a good mix of buyers including some MICE buyers as well. Thus we were able to have few MICE meetings also which was beneficial for business,” he shared.
Randhir Gupta, Senior Director of Sales – Leisure and Luxury, India & South Asia too had positive things to say about the ITM this year. “ITM offered a good engagement platform for key stakeholders to interact with international as well as domestic buyers. We had fruitful discussions and there were queries regarding the safety norms being followed and we could also talk about our new openings etc.,” he said.
Speaking candidly to BOTT, a couple of International Buyers said that they are happy to see how India has been successful in curbing the spread of the pandemic and that this has taken the destination a few notches up on many people’s holiday list. They also mentioned that there is a growing interest in people to visit India and that perhaps once the international borders open up, there will definitely be a rush in inbound traffic to the country.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Ayog, said that the revival of tourism is integral for India to regain the GDP growth of 9 to 10 per cent sooner than later. He also reiterated that there remains no doubt regarding the recovery of the tourism sector and he is “confident” of its bouncing back. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism, Government of India, who couldn’t be present physically, addressed the gathering and delegates virtually, assuring Government’s complete cooperation to the tourism sector and stating the numerous Government policies & initiatives and how they are providing relief and benefit to the tourism sector.
Mr. Arvind Singh, Secretary Tourism, Government of India; Mr. Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Mrs. Meenakshi Sharma, DG Tourism, Government of India in their respective addresses applauded the efforts of FAITH in organising the event virtually and assured complete cooperation of the government in reviving the tourism sector in India starting with revival of e-visa and international flights soon. Mrs. Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India gave the vote of thanks.
