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Maharashtra eyes to boost tourism in the State through ‘CII Tourism Fest’

Punjab to be the Principal Partner State – VB Kumar

India’s Financial Capital to woo tourists at ‘CII Tourism Fest’ to be held in December at Chandigarh

Popularly known as the Financial Capital of the country, Mumbai is now all set to woo global and domestic tourists at CII Tourism Fest from 5 – 7 December 2013 at Chandigarh. This is first of its kind mega event, being organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), supported by Ministry of Tourism (GoI), to promote India as an attractive tourist destination amongst global tourist fraternity.

Mr Arun Srivastava, Regional Director for Central & Western India Tourism, Government of India, while addressing during the announcement of the Fest said, “To revamp its image and come out as the one of the most attractive global tourist destinations, Maharashtra and other states are participating actively in the CII Tourism Fest to reach out to the world. There is a vast tourism potential in the country as the industry has still to come at par with the growth figures of world average. This provides a great scope to national and international tourism stakeholders to expand businesses, bring more investments and play a pivotal role in the growth.”

He added, “The key highlight of this event would be good quality buyers, sellers, Chief Ministers’ Forum and ideation platforms in addition to showcasing of various projects under PPP mode by different states. In the present scenario, with rupee weakening against dollar, In-bound tourism in India has a huge scope. This must be capitalised by our tour operators as an opportunity to promote India as a globally competitive and diverse tourist destination by passing the monetary benefits to clients.”

Calling for a coordinated action, he shared that “Travel and Tourism is 3 times bigger than manufacturing and communications sectors, so one can imagine the immense untapped potential of tourism in India, if it is harnessed well.  In 2012, tourism contributed 6.6 trillion USD to the world economy, created 300 million jobs and 800 billion USD investments.  India accounts for 0.06% of world’s tourism share which speaks volume of the scope for business.”

“To showcase India as a Global Tourist Destination by creating synergies between various stakeholders, creating enabling policies and desired infrastructure, CII Tourism Fest would bring together on one platform, various State governments, central Tourism Agencies and senior representatives from Travel, Tourism and Hospitality industry like the Hotels & Resorts, Hospitals, Tour Operators, Airlines, Airport authorities, Air Charter Companies, Tourism Boards of various Countries, City Transport Providers, academia, policy makers and Industry experts”, highlighted Mr Arjun Sharma, Chairman, CII Tourism Fest 2013 & Managing Director, Le Passage to India.

“Synergy between various state governments and centre is the key to promote the region as a Tourism Hub. There is also a need for better coordination, enhanced Liaisoning, aggressive B2B tie ups and strong networking amongst key stakeholders from all across the world in order to put India on World map on tourism front. The CII Tourism Fest would comprise a lot of Buyer Seller Meets; deliberations on required Policy initiatives; International Dance Shows; National and International Food Festivals, Golf Tournament; International Chef Meets; Leisure & Excursion Trips etc. CII Tourism Fest would act as an integrated program for growth of tourism in the India. To showcase the best of Punjab to the world, Punjab is participating as a Principal Partner State”, highlighted Mr V B Kumar, State Executive Director, Punjab Heritage Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB), Government of Punjab.

While applauding the CII for taking this unique initiative, Mr Abhijeet Patil, President, Maharashtra Chapter, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) said, “CII Tourism Fest would bring about a healthy dialogue and interstate co-operation that is of utmost importance to attract tourist to the Western India. We would take a structured delegation from Maharashtra & Gujarat to the fest and would also present a White Paper on the Roadmap to promote tourism in this region.  Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) would also attend the World Travel Mart in London, as well as other fairs in Switzerland, France and Dubai to promote Maharashtra”.

Mr Iqbal Mulla, Member, CII Tourism Fest Core Group on Travel Agents & Tour Operators & President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) called for portraying India as a continent to the tourism world, considering our diversities. CII Tourism Fest would be an ideal platform to showcase India’s beautiful heritage and serene beauty to the world. I call upon all stakeholders to actively participate in this mega fest and harness India’s full tourism potential where Canada, Indonesia, China, Philippines, Malaysia, and Macau have confirmed to participate and countries like Abu Dhabi, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, Mauritius, Egypt, Kenya are also likely to participate in the fest.

Mr Rahul Himalian – Additional General Manager – IRCTC Western Region informed that “IRCTC would actively partner in the CII Tourism Fest and provide all possible support to promote tourism in India. IRCTC now understands the customer and is more than willing to work with all stakeholders to contribute to tourism growth in India.

According to CII release “Chandigarh (India) is the Host City and Punjab is the Principal Partner State, while Maharashtra, HP, Uttarakhand are the focus states. Other Participating States include- Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry, Delhi, Tamil Nadu”

“Various associations like Outbound Tour Operators Association of India, Le Passage to India, India Golf Tourism Association, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India, Indian Federation Associations of Culinary World Association of Chefs Societies, Trav Talk -DDP Publications are supporting the event”, said the CII release.