(S.S.Dogra Email:ssdogra@journalist.com)
New Delhi: India’s biggest buyer-seller meet in the country, focussed on inbound tourism is all set to take place from 23rd September-2019. This tourism mart is jointly organised by Ministry of Tourism, Govt. Of India and entire tourism industry of India. Country’s all tourism associations are members of FAITH which organises this tourism mart every year. These member organisations are-1. Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) 2. Hotel Association of India (HAI) 3. Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) 4. Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) 5. Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) 6. Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) 7. Adventure Tour Operators` Association of India (ATOAI) 8. India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) 9. Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) 10. Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA)
This 3 days tourism mart between (23-25) September will be organised at Ashoka Hotel, Chankyapuri, New Delhi and will be inaugurated by Honourable tourism minister Shri. Prahlad Singh Patel. Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honourable minister of Shipping & Transport will be chief guest. Sharing his vision while addressing ITM-2019 Mr. Nakul Anand, Chairman FAITH said-
While India Tourism Mart 2019 is a FAITH initiative, the support extended by the Ministry of Tourism, GoI has been a catalyst in enabling us take a leap forward and getting closer to the goal of 20 million tourist arrivals by 2020. ITM has proven to be an excellent platform for buyers, tourism stakeholders, states and the MoT as one roof for B2B meetings and knowledge sharing with the singular aim of promoting inbound tourism from the globe to India.
Press conference was jointly addressed by Mr. Subhash Goyal, Honorary secretary, FAITH. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Goyal said-The objective of the Mart is to have B2B meetings between the Indian Tour Operators (Sellers) and the foreign tour operators (Buyers) thereby creating a marketplace to transact business opportunities for tourism stakeholders to enhance and increase India’s tourism potential in terms of tourist arrivals into India to reach 20 Million tourists by the year 2020.
To showcase opportunities for the complete tourism value chain in India i.e. travel, hotels, destinations, tour & transport intermediaries, the Mart will provide an opportunity under one roof for participants to interact, seek information and share experiences with different disciplines of the tourism industry and also states with the aim of strengthening the brand positioning of Ïncredible India” and create a Global Tourism Mart for India on the lines of WTM in London and ITB in Berlin. Last year’s mart was a grand success attended by 244 buyers from 62 countries. This year we are expecting 300 buyers from 70 countries.
