New Delhi, Nov 05, 2022, By Special Correspondent

New Delhi, Nov 5: The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, will participate in World Travel Market (WTM), one of the largest international travel exhibitions, from November 7 to 9 in London.

 

The theme of this year's exhibition is ‘The Future of Travel Starts Now’. 

 

With the reopening of the country to foreign tourists, after a gap of almost 2 years, this year's participation of India is particularly significant. 

 

After world’s largest vaccination drive, the country is ready for international tourists.

 

India is participating in WTM 2022 to showcase itself as a preferred destination for tourism, an official release said here.

 

During 2019, the contribution of travel & tourism to India's GDP was 5.19% of the total economy. In 2019, the Indian tourism sector accounted for 79.86 million jobs (direct and indirect employment). 

 

The consistent efforts of the Central and the state governments have helped the tourism industry to gradually recover from the Covid-19 pandemic shock to the pre- pandemic levels.

 

A total of 16 stakeholders, including from state governments, other Central ministries, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the industry partner, DMCs, tour operators, hoteliers, travel agents, online travel agents, facilitators of medical value travel are participating as co-exhibitors in the India Pavilion.

 

The objective is to showcase the diverse tourism products and services including Medical Value travel, luxury trains and the gamut of tourism products to the international business community.

 

This year, the Indian delegation, being led by Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism), Government of India, includes Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, and other senior officials from the Ministry, besides representatives from the Indian travel and tourism stakeholders.

 

The Indian Government is cognizant of the country’s potential in the tourism industry and has taken several steps to make India a global tourism hub.

 

As India is poised for massive growth in the tourism sector in the future, this visit shall also offer an opportunity to the Indian Government delegation to showcase the investment opportunities and potential which India offers to the global investors.

 

India is also gearing up for the G20 Presidency which is scheduled to start fromDecember 1.

 

Under its Presidency, the country is expected to host over 200 meetings across 55 cities in the country. 

 

The G-20 Presidency will give India’s tourism sector an unparalleled opportunity to highlight India’s tourism offerings and share India’s tourism success stories on a global stage.

 

The Ministry of Tourism is aiming to develop the tourism sector especially in the aftermath of COVID Pandemic to new heights and accelerating the transition to achieve sustainable development targets of 2030.