FAITH kickstarts promotions for India Tourism Mart in association with tourism ministry

NEW DELHI: The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) kickstarted promotions for the first India Tourism Mart, which will be held in partnership with the ministry of tourism from
16-18th September at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

The tourism ministry will drive the event through FAITH with the objective of positioning the tourism destinations and products of the country in international source markets with the aim of doubling the number of foreign tourists from the current figure of 10 million to 20 million by 2020.

The objective of the mart is to create a global tourism mart for India on the lines of major international travel marts being held in other countries.

“We need to have an India mart. Most of our industry goes abroad to market important destinations but we need to bring the best buyers here to access the sellers from India. The smaller Indian players may not have the wherewithal to go abroad,” said Suman Billa, joint secretary, ministry of tourism.

Subhash Goyal, chairman, organising committee and honorary secretary, FAITH said out of 620 applications received from international buyers it has selected 272 buyers from 65 different countries across the globe and another 98 applications are under process.

The event, through its FAM tours will provide an opportunity for the buyers to experience Indian hospitality, culture, cuisines, heritage monuments, infrastructure and niche products from various Indian states. Chains like IHCL, ITC Hotels and Leela have offered accomodation options for the event.

Nakul Anand, chairman of FAITH said international buyers who are already selling India and those who have the potential to sell Indian destionations will have b2b meetings with their Indian counterparts.”