Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways & Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) inaugurated the India Tourism Mart (ITM) 2019 in New Delhi yesterday. The Ministry of Tourism and the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) have jointly organized this Mart. Over 240 international delegates from 51 countries and 160 exhibitors from across the country are taking part in the second edition of ITM.
Addressing the gathering, Gadkari said that great positive outcome can be expected from the well organized Mart and the type of stakeholders who are participating. India has language, culture & food, which attracts new tourists. We are focusing on cleanliness and infrastructure which will also boost the tourism sector. He added that tourism sector has employment potential and this is the most important agenda for our government. He expressed faith that the Tourism Ministry will show great results given its commitment to promote tourism and travel in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Patel said that collaboration of Ministry of Tourism and FAITH will increase the trust of tourists. India has diversity in its culture and I appeal to the delegates, they must visit our state stalls in the Mart. They will get to know about the beauty of our culture. He added that tourism is the best way to connect to the world and our efforts are in right directions.
Earlier, addressing the media at a press meet in the morning yesterday, Patel said that the objective of the Mart is to provide a platform at the national level for the trade and hospitality service providers to interact and conduct business with their counterparts from overseas.
Patel further said that he is thankful to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for the recently announced GST rebates which will benefit the hospitality sector and will go a long way to promote tourism industry. He added that India is a very beautiful and vibrant country and there has been a definite change in the perception of international tourists due to which we have seen growth in international tourists. The Tourism Minister invited the participants to freely give their suggestions which will be taken up by the Ministry to help all the stakeholders in the tourism and travel industry.
During the Mart, over 240 international delegates from 51 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, UK, USA and others will interact and transact business with 175 Indian suppliers.
Gujarat is the Partner State at ITM 2019 and other participating states are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Daman & Diu, Goa, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
