Kolkata 23 January 2023: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) organized Travel India 2023 – a two Conference and Expo on travel and tourism- to discuss sustainable tourism for the Future and Developing East & North East as a hub of “MICE Tourism”. The session witnessed valuable insights from Mr. Babul Supriyo, Hon’ble Minister, Dept. Of Tourism, Government of West Bengal, Prof. Sutheeshna Babu, Nodal Officer, NIWS-Goa Knowledge Partner, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Mr. Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman, India Convention Promotion Bureau, ICPB, Ms. Jyoti Mayal, Chairperson, Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC), Dr. Suborno Bose, Hospitality Evangelist Founder, Chief Mentor of the Indismart Group & Chairman IIHM, Mr. Chander Manshramani, Chairman, ICC Tourism Export Committee, Mr. Debashis Sen, Chairman, and Managing Director, The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) and Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce.
While delivering the welcoming address, Director General, of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Rajeev Singh, said, “We are here today when things are stable following the Covid period. The travel and tourism industry has seen rapid growth after the pandemic. It is eventually connecting us with the global culture, creating employability, and helping self-help groups to be visible in the global sector. This has been possible because of the Udaan initiative by the government. Many countries have faced immense challenges in this sector but tourism has the capability to employ man power at a huge rate. The government is working on various standards to bolster our country’s travel and tourism industry.”
Commenting on Bengal tourism, Chief Guest Hon’ble Minister, Dept. Of the Tourism Government of West Bengal, Mr. Babul Supriyo said, “Travel industry has the potential to solely employ a large amount of human capital. When I speaking about travel it only travels India but travels Bengal. This is the interest and enthusiasm we see from our honorable Chief Minister. Every tourist lodge and destination in West Bengal is named by her. After the Covid hiatus, people have taken up the opportunity to jump back to the industry. This is because of the passion attached with the industry. There should be more activity to work collectively with both private and public sectors. This initiative will attract more tourists to Bengal. The experience of the people matters as you take them from one place to another to visit and experience wonderful service. I would rather want tourists to come to Bengal for a successful resurgence of tourism in our state. We shall also try to collaborate with schools to make students experience, learn and cherish the beauty of Bengal.”
Commenting on the G20 session in Bengal, Chairman and Managing Director, The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), Mr. Debashis Sen said, “The first G20 meeting in Bengal has seen huge success and the government of India will be following the same procedure practiced in the first meet. Kolkata is seeing a huge change due to the leadership of our Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee and her team as they are visiting several places and leaving no stones untouched for to attract more tourists. We are rigorously working to implement MICE tourism in Bengal. The Biswa Bangla convention centre, Digha, and Milon mela ground near Science City have received several praises from all entities. Regarding MICE tourism, we have taken a resolution of looking into the banquet halls and other requirements which will be well documented and stored on a Google platform so that it can be visited by people for upcoming meets. We also provide discounts to incoming tourists at Biswa Bangla Prangan.”
Commenting on the theme of the session, the Chairman of, ICC Tourism Export Committee, Mr. Chander Manshramani, said, “This is the flagship event of the Indian Chamber of Commerce that focuses on the policy of stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry to make a social impact. The objective of ‘Travel India 2023’ is to look into the opportunities and challenges faced by this industry. Tourism is growing and India is reforming at all sectors at a market size of Rs. 28, 000 crore. Strong communication and credibility should be developed to see rapid growth in the tourism sector. Travel India is a very encouraging session as it discusses the various aspects of travel and tourism and provides us insights to see our country as the tourist capital.”
Commenting on the implications of newly introduced schemes of Government of India, Nodal Officer, NIWS-GOA, Knowledge Partner, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Prof. Sutheeshna Babu said, “Since Covid-19, India witnessed the worst economic crisis and eventually the travel industry got affected. Tourism being a strong pillar to the country’s economy and employment generation, it was considered the least priority section. Commenting on this backdrop I would like to say that the central government has a robust role in promoting the local sectors and domestic tourism. Due to which domestic tourism has contributed approximately 55 percent to the country’s GDP and the employability rate has surged to 52 percent. Domestic industry being huge in number should take up sustainable measures for its improvement. In details we can see that the key initiatives by the government for the development are, National Sustainable Tourism Strategy, Contributing in National Board of Adventure Tourism, National Strategy, and Roadmap for Rural Tourism, and most importantly the G20 events in almost 55 cities across the country. These initiatives will make India a prime destination for promoting tourism across the globe.”
Commenting on the existing bottlenecks and opportunities for increasing foreign tourists arrivals in the country, the Chairperson of, Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC), Ms. Jyoti Mayal said, “I will say traveling is what makes you a storyteller. You can explore the entire world and narrate the story and this could be the procedure where we can sell our country’s tourism to the entire world. Tourism is a vibrant and ever-evolving sector predicted to become a $1.5 trillion sector by 2027 which also possesses some unique challenges which keeps altering with time. Tourism holds different perspectives for different people. For some it is income, many seeks it as employment and for others it’s comfort. Today, the tourism sector has shown the light, especially when our Prime Minister has emphasized on the three Ts –trade, tourism, and technology- and acknowledged them as pillars of strength. Tourism reconnects all the market sectors. So, while highlighting tourism we should focus on how to market the product by focusing on our tourists’ requirement. Medical tourism and conferences hold potential value for growth. India is a country with a wide heritage and cuisine which needs to be discussed on the upcoming conferences. The world is looking at India to become the richest economy, so we must not miss this opportunity and push the government for better policies in this sector.”
Commenting on the role of ‘MICE Tourism’ to attract foreign tourists in India, Vice Chairman, of the India Convention Promotion Bureau, ICPB, Mr. Amaresh Tiwari, said,” MICE is fast growing market segment in India. Thanks to the excellent economic growth, it is one of the largest consumer organizations in India engrossed in taking our country towards excellence. The global MICE industry requires a roadmap to the development of our tourism sector and hence contribute to our GDP. MICE has the highest contribution to the GDP than any other tourism sector. Our first priority would be to generate Rs. 25 billion for the GDP. More business meetings should be held globally and states need to come forward and generate incentives to promote tourism. The MICE initiative could be promoted in the global market through advertisements, branding, and cultural programmes. The ongoing G20 summit would be the perfect time to present MICE‘s initiative.”
Commenting on the role of hospitality in travel and tourism, Hospitality Evangelist Founder, Chief Mentor of the Indismart Group & Chairman IIHM, Dr. Suborno Bose said, “Hospitality plays a vital role in the travel and tourism industry. This industry has faced a lot of challenges during the pandemic. Now, we are back with a new era. Weddings, meetings, conferences are the biggest revenue to the hotel industry. With the growth of homestay brands like ITC, Taj, etc. we are making it possible to make India a tourism capital. There is a clear intent of the government for the growth of tourism, hospitality, and travel sector. This is the time to rightly invest on the sustainable growth of this industry. Travelers’ demand service and we need to embrace our guests and build a brand in this sector. So, we should hold hands with the government to place this industry in a better position.”
Commenting on behalf of Uttar Pradesh Tourism sector, Officer, Tourism Department, Government of India, Mr. Nitin Kumar Dwivedi said, “Indian tourism industry has emerged as a key driver of the service sector in India. The Prime Minister’s initiative of trade tourism and technology has showcased that our country has become a potential game changer. The factor of being culturally rich has helped to grow tourism in UP. Uttar Pradesh is among the top 4 states to welcome the foreign travelers to visit the culturally rich city. We are joining hands with the investors to welcome them to experience the beautiful part of our country’s heritage.”
