India’s Diverse Tourism Products Displayed At The Italy Edition Of The Incredible India Reconnect 2022 Virtual Roadshow
New Delhi, July 28 (TNA) As India opens its borders post-pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism, has been organising a series of virtual roadshows in collaboration with Indian Missions abroad to reconnect with and welcome back partners in the international travel and tourism industry. As much as it is aimed to be an update on Indian tourism, it is also an initiative to rediscover old ties and explore new opportunities for the future.
India’s diverse and unique tourism products were at display this week with the Italy edition of the Incredible India Reconnect 2022 virtual roadshow. The Incredible India Reconnect 2022 Virtual Roadshow began with opening remarks from Dr. Neena Malhotra, Ambassador of India to Italy.
She highlighted the importance of efforts such as this in reigniting the tourism and travel interest between Indian and Italy – given the rich commonalities between history, culture, and civilization. She spoke at length about how Italy and India are fertile grounds for film and cultural tourism to thrive.
It was followed by remarks from G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Director General (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism. The Director General began with recalling the Prime Minister’s slogan ‘Chalo India’ mentioned in his address to Indian diaspora in Denmark. The call for the diaspora was for each of them to invite 5 non – Indian friends to come and visit India.
Highlighting the importance of the diaspora, he mentioned the need for enabling members of the Indian diaspora to talk about the diverse tourism offerings of India in their daily places of work and interaction. He also mentioned how India was a tourist destination that offered the most economical and the most luxurious of tourist offerings at each of the 165-170 declared tourist destinations in India.
While also highlighting Italian tourist preferences towards India’s traditional culture, heritage, wildlife, and nature, he mentioned how India’s success story in vaccination has allowed for tourism recovery at a faster pace than was predicted by global thought leaders like UNWTO and WTTC He reiterated on the importance of medical and wellness tourism and its popularity in Italy. Dilating on the fact, he mentioned how India was among the only countries in the world having a dedicated Ministry and action plan towards traditional knowledge systems.
The virtual roadshow was a signal of the continuing efforts of the Ministry of Tourism to encourage bilateral tourism by recognising the issues, challenges, and opportunities between India and its top 20 source markets, sowing seeds for new ideas and relationships for a brighter future for Indian tourism.