Kolkata, 20th January 2023: Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) organised the closing session of Travel India 2023- A Conference and Expo- on travel and tourism to discuss the increasing scale of tourism in India. The session witnessed valuable insights from Chander Manshramani, Chairman, ICC Expert Committee on Tourism; Kamal R Jadhwani, Vice President, The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI); Pritam Chakraborty, Senior Manager, Sales (East), IndiGo (Inter Global Aviation Ltd); B P Singh, Regional Director Tourism Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh; Amitava Mukherjee, Chief Commercial Manager Eastern Railway; Sagnik Chowdhury, Regional Director – Kolkata Regional Office (East), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Dr Saumitra Mohan, I A S, Secretary, Department of Tourism Government of West Bengal.
Highlighting West Bengal as an important Tourist destination in the Map of India, chief guest, Dr Saumitra Mohan, I A S, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal, said, “People of South East Asia work more, meaning we are working more than the required time. Here the most of the people belong to the tourism industry. We should give this workforce a push to promote travel and tourism. According to the reports, more than 2.5 crore tourists can be attracted but these figures is not much prevalent nation wise. We must take required measures to improve this sector providing huge contribution to our Indian economy. This industry needs very less capital investment but the acquired results could be huge with minimal efforts. Bengal has varied geographic features which makes us fortunate enough to attract maximum tourists. We have a policy architecture in our state, promoting tea tourism, homestay, tourist guide policy and incentive policy. The tourism operators must get themselves registered to this programme to attract more tourists. Our state requires more such facilitating architecture to encourage the tourism industry. Our tourists must return with a satisfactory mind, and this can only happen when we study and acknowledge the market demands regarding tourism. We should also keep in mind, how responsible we are for the promotion of sustainable tourism, by less usage of plastic and environmental hazardous waste. In Bengal, we have 20 lacs acre of water bodies. The tourism industry, which provides opportunities for water tourism in our state. The government is also promoting wellness and health tourism. Tourism industry must interact with the stakeholders and provide opportunities to the operators in ease of doing business with initiatives like single window transition, incentive for the generation of employment, and make use of the pool of human capital. The kind of experience our tourists would have is what we call as sustainable and responsible tourism as our guests return to experience more. Durga Puja has been recognised as the intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Also we have beautiful tea gardens and mountains to experience. Bengal can transform these cultural recognitions to attract more tourists. We must practice better skilling and usage of our resources to promote tourism our states.”
Commenting on issues & concerns of travel agents operating in East & North Eastern States of India, Kamal R Jadhwani, Vice President, The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said, “Travel is the only thing you buy to get richer culturally. Since long, tourism has a lot of terms to play with. Among all terms, sustainable and responsible tourism is the most primary factor. Sustainability is related to economic and social changes. It advocates the proper management and development of the tourism industry. We must say that North East is the epitome for developing tourism as it has rich natural beauty, cleanliness and beautiful villages. It has several dialects in culture and traditions. We in Bengal are fortunate enough to have snowcaps, rivers, mountains and rich flora and fauna which certainly becomes the world's biggest attraction. These attractions should supplement each other and hence we can count on millions of audiences across the world. Issues which the tourism industry is facing are projecting such tourist spots, recognition of the regions, certifying travel operators, poor infrastructure and connectivity. We should take collective initiative with private and public sectors to promote and improve the tourism structure in our country. We must take measures to improve MICE operations in these states. Our Prime Minister stated that our eastern states are ‘Ashtalakshmi’ (the goddess of wealth) and our government will play a significant role in making it visible across the country.”//////////
Commenting on importance of air connectivity for development of tourism in India, Pritam Chakraborty, Senior Manager, Sales (East), IndiGo (Inter Global Aviation Ltd), said, “ Tourism depends on transportation while transportation depends on tourism to generate demands for its services. Over a number of years the tourism industry has seen a huge growth and is contributing approximately 9.6 per cent to India's GDP, out of which 88 percent belongs to domestic tourism. Further, the emergence of industry since decades has managed to create huge employability, overall economic development and capitalised trade. Tourism has proliferated through major factors like increase in investments, productivity, access to global market, better supply chain and improved connectivity in remote areas. Realising that air connectivity can have multiple effects on our economy and socio-economic development, the Indian policy makers are working rigorously to promote regional and remote air connectivity. The Udaan initiative is one such example, where there is already around 70 airports, and 100 will be attained by 2027. India is currently considered as the 3rd largest civil aviation country. Introducing flights in Eastern India's tier 3 cities would work as a catalyst to improve this sector. On behalf of Indigo we have around 300 aircrafts and over 70 domestic destinations. So, we all need to build an effective and symbiotic relationship for tourism to flourish.”
Commenting on Uttar Pradesh state perspective on tourism, B P Singh, Regional Director Tourism Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, said, “ I would like to start with a quote 'UP nai dekha toh India nai dekha' (If you haven’t seen UP then you haven’t seen India). Tourism is a vast industry and this should be promoted at every level. Our Prime Minister has been promoting this industry with three main factors, Trade, Travel and Technology. These factors would take this industry to experience our diverse culture. Uttar Pradesh is a hub of cultural heritage. It is the land of Rama, Buddha, Krishna and Jainism. Every religion is known to this city. So promoting this culture brings several visitors from different religions to our city. Apart from this, we are also enriched with beautiful monuments like the Taj Mahal, Fatepur Sikri and the holy rivers of Ganga and Yamuna. We also provide a varied food culture to our travelers that is filled with sweetness and our cultural roots.”//////
Commenting on role of railways in promoting tourism, Amitava Mukherjee, Chief Commercial Manager, Eastern Railway, said, “The Main USP of railways in tourism is it facilitates mass travelling as the tourists prefer railway transportation irrespective of holiday tours or regular travel. To keep this demand we have tried to introduce special trains. These trains have all kinds of coaches and luxury emoluments to cater to all kind of clientele. This is because the railway always receives volumes mostly from the lower end tourism. Luxury trains are in association with the government, providing all the necessary accessories to the travelers. Eastern Railway has Bharat Gaurav Train and Rajdhani to help our travelers with luxury travel. Toy train being the cultural heritage attracts most of the tourist in North Bengal. These trains and infrastructural development along with VIP lounge and waiting spaces and digitisation has brought a change in the railway and tourism industry. As a stakeholder in the tourism industry I would say that post-Covid we have seen the rise of revenge tourism where our travelers are willing to enjoy their travels and visits. So, I would say that this industry is rapidly increasing and would attain excellence in the upcoming years.”
Commenting on issues & concerns of travel agents operating in East & North Eastern States of India, Kamal R Jadhwani, Vice President, The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said, “Travel is the only thing you buy to get richer culturally. Since long, tourism has a lot of terms to play with. Among all terms, sustainable and responsible tourism is the most primary factor. Sustainability is related to economic and social changes. It advocates the proper management and development of the tourism industry. We must say that North East is the epitome for developing tourism as it has rich natural beauty, cleanliness and beautiful villages. It has several dialects in culture and traditions. We in Bengal are fortunate enough to have snowcaps, rivers, mountains and rich flora and fauna which certainly becomes the world's biggest attraction. These attractions should supplement each other and hence we can count on millions of audiences across the world. Issues which the tourism industry is facing are projecting such tourist spots, recognition of the regions, certifying travel operators, poor infrastructure and connectivity. We should take collective initiative with private and public sectors to promote and improve the tourism structure in our country. We must take measures to improve MICE operations in these states. Our Prime Minister stated that our eastern states are ‘Ashtalakshmi’ (the goddess of wealth) and our government will play a significant role in making it visible across the country.” ///////
Commenting on importance of air connectivity for development of tourism in India, Pritam Chakraborty, Senior Manager, Sales (East), IndiGo (Inter Global Aviation Ltd), said, “ Tourism depends on transportation while transportation depends on tourism to generate demands for its services. Over a number of years the tourism industry has seen a huge growth and is contributing approximately 9.6 per cent to India's GDP, out of which 88 percent belongs to domestic tourism. Further, the emergence of industry since decades has managed to create huge employability, overall economic development and capitalised trade. Tourism has proliferated through major factors like increase in investments, productivity, access to global market, better supply chain and improved connectivity in remote areas. Realising that air connectivity can have multiple effects on our economy and socio-economic development, the Indian policy makers are working rigorously to promote regional and remote air connectivity. The Udaan initiative is one such example, where there is already around 70 airports, and 100 will be attained by 2027. India is currently considered as the 3rd largest civil aviation country. Introducing flights in Eastern India's tier 3 cities would work as a catalyst to improve this sector. On behalf of Indigo we have around 300 aircrafts and over 70 domestic destinations. So, we all need to build an effective and symbiotic relationship for tourism to flourish.”
Commenting on Uttar Pradesh state perspective on tourism, B P Singh, Regional Director Tourism Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, said, “ I would like to start with a quote 'UP nai dekha toh India nai dekha' (If you haven’t seen UP then you haven’t seen India). Tourism is a vast industry and this should be promoted at every level. Our Prime Minister has been promoting this industry with three main factors, Trade, Travel and Technology. These factors would take this industry to experience our diverse culture. Uttar Pradesh is a hub of cultural heritage. It is the land of Rama, Buddha, Krishna and Jainism. Every religion is known to this city. So promoting this culture brings several visitors from different religions to our city. Apart from this, we are also enriched with beautiful monuments like the Taj Mahal, Fatepur Sikri and the holy rivers of Ganga and Yamuna. We also provide a varied food culture to our travelers that is filled with sweetness and our cultural roots.”
Commenting on role of railways in promoting tourism, Amitava Mukherjee, Chief Commercial Manager, Eastern Railway, said, “The Main USP of railways in tourism is it facilitates mass travelling as the tourists prefer railway transportation irrespective of holiday tours or regular travel. To keep this demand we have tried to introduce special trains. These trains have all kinds of coaches and luxury emoluments to cater to all kind of clientele. This is because the railway always receives volumes mostly from the lower end tourism. Luxury trains are in association with the government, providing all the necessary accessories to the travelers. Eastern Railway has Bharat Gaurav Train and Rajdhani to help our travelers with luxury travel. Toy train being the cultural heritage attracts most of the tourist in North Bengal. These trains and infrastructural development along with VIP lounge and waiting spaces and digitisation has brought a change in the railway and tourism industry. As a stakeholder in the tourism industry I would say that post-Covid we have seen the rise of revenge tourism where our travelers are willing to enjoy their travels and visits. So, I would say that this industry is rapidly increasing and would attain excellence in the upcoming years.”
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