September 17, 2018
The mart is being jointly held by the Ministry of Tourism and the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), along with regional governments
The spike in activities in the tourism sector is expected to contribute nearly US$500 billion to India's GDP by 2027, compared with over US$230 billion recorded in 2017
The Government’s measures have helped India climb 12 places to 40th position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitive Index released in 2017
Foreign tourist arrivals into India rose by 10 per cent over the first quarter of 2018, this follows a 15.6 per cent jump in FTAs to 10.2 million over the course of 2017
India is among the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world and the Central Government is keen to promote the nation as a “must revisit, must experience” spot. To this end, the first ever India Tourism Mart was inaugurated by the union minister for railways, Piyush Goyal, in the presence of union tourism minister, K J Alphons and the tourism minister of Morocco, Mohamed Sajid, in New Delhi on September 17. The mart is being held by the Ministry of Tourism over September 16-18, jointly with the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), with support of regional governments.
The tourism department is looking to reach the ambitious goal of US$100 billion worth of annual foreign tourist receipts within five years. To reach this target, the Government has invested in augmenting infrastructure, connectivity and state services to boost foreign tourist arrivals. The proactive measures have helped India climb 12 places to 40th position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitive Index released in April 2017. The spike in activities in the tourism sector is expected to contribute nearly US$500 billion to India’s GDP by 2027, compared with over US$230 billion in 2017.
An uptake in activities in the tourism sector has also helped in job creation. Given the importance of the sector in the overall economy, the Government has decided to organise the tourism mart every September, in model of the International Tourism Marts held worldwide every year. India’s vast and diverse cultural and climatic riches have attracted interests of travellers for thousands of years. The interest has been further boosted with India’s increasing engagement in economic as well as research and development activities around the world. Additionally, India now offers e-visas to 166 nations.
The tourism mart is providing a platform for all stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industries to interact and transact on business opportunities. The ITM 2018 has seen participation of around 225 hosted international buyers and media personnel from North America, West Europe, East Asia, Latin America, CIS countries, among others. Foreign tourist arrivals into India rose by 10 per cent over the first quarter of 2018. FTAs during the period January-March 2018 were 3.1 million as compared with 2.8 million a year earlier. This follows a 15.6 per cent jump in FTAs to 10.2 million over the course of 2017.