New Delhi: Rajasthan’s first domestic travel mart, Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM), is happening on July 20-22. The event is particularly significant in many aspects. Unlike the rest of India, the GDP contribution of tourism to Rajasthan’s economy is at a robust over 16 per cent. However the state still doesn’t have an equitable distribution of tourists throughout the state.
According to one estimate the state capital Jaipur and surrounding gets the lion share of overall tourists coming to Rajasthan, which is in stark contrast to the fact that Rajasthan is spread over a staggering 3.42 lakh square kilometres, has a plenty of destinations and is also the largest state in India by area.
Tourism is key to Rajasthan, a state endowed with endless potential, and driving this sector is the domestic tourism. According to WTTC data, India’s tourism figures are predominantly generated by domestic travel, which accounted for 88 per cent of the sector’s contribution to the national GDP in 2016, whereas tourism receipt through foreign tourists only represented 12 per cent.
Rajasthan received about 46 million visitors overall last year recording a growth of over 10.5 per cent over the previous year. However, the share of foreign tourist is in the region of 1.6 million at the moment.
According to Gyan Prakash, General Secretary of FHTR and an ex-FICCI whose experience in conceptualising and executing a successful travel show goes deep because of his close involvement in shaping up GITB (Great India Travel Bazaar) right from its first edition in 2007, “Domestic tourism is the future and this cannot be ignored. And there is a continuous effort that is required and at a much larger scale. And the effort needs to be very focussed.”
“You see there is vulnerability in inbound tourism because of some unpredictable incidents in your country or for one or the other reason. At the same time Rajasthan has a diverse product portfolio, from heritage, adventure, wildlife, leisure, eco, rural to MICE, leisure, bleisure, events and so on that can engage every segment of traveller. However, the hotels are doing a 65 per cent occupancy and that means not only is there a huge opportunity to grow tourism in the state but also bring more stability to the state’s tourism economy by growing and strengthening the domestic tourism market,” he added.
The forthcoming Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart on July 20-22 will not only put the ‘domestic tourism’ in the spotlight but is also an opportunity for the suppliers and destinations, beyond the ones popular and in business, to be to be counted.
And what makes it an even more anticipated event is the fact that the event is being driven by the private tourism sector of the state represented by the industry bodies from the state like Hotel & Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO) who have all united under the aegis of a consortium led by Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) that is organising the event with support from Ministry of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan.
Prakash informed that the first edition will have about 200 odd suppliers from across the state as well as about the same number of domestic buyers. The event is being organised by FHTR and is being supported by Ministry of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan.
“The agreement that has been signed between FHTR and Government of Rajasthan is basically of handholding not just for this year but continuously, but at this moment for this year. But we are looking forward to… naturally… go beyond,” concludes Prakash.
