The core objective of the event was to organise deliberations amongst shareholders and energize the businesses in all aspects of travel, tourism and hospitality to chalk out an action plan as envisaged in the Draft tourism policy.
While addressing the delegates at the ‘Hospitality & Tourism Conclave’ organised by Services and Export Promotion Council (SEPC), Chief Guest at the event, Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India said, “Travel & tourism is one of the leading sectors of the country. The tourism policy has been drafted in consultation with the center ministry, state ministries, stake holders etc to draft a proposition that will help in strengthening tourism and the development of sub-sectors as well.”
“Infrastructure development, connectivity, brand building and taxation and visa policies will also be looked into to increase engagement and reach the 1 trillion-dollar economy goal,” Singh added.
Sharing his insight, Sunil H Talati, Chairman, SEPC said, “The conclave was the coming together of various experts and stakeholders from the industry to add gravitas to the proposed events like ATITHI and strengthen the Travel and Tourism sector in India. It touched upon points for the growth prospects and challenges and the need for a framework to put India on the Global Travel Map.”
“The hospitality sector is a sunrise industry with immense potential for growth,” said Karan Rathore, Vice Chairman, SEPC. “It accounts for approximately 50 million jobs in the country and direct foreign investments. Hospitality has been the essence of India. The need of the hour is to position India as a holistic travel and wellness destination and help the tourist traffic reach the projected 13.34 million in 2024,” he added.
“Amongst all the sector under SEPC, Travel and Tourism is one of the largest and key sectors. Today, India is the 12th largest country in the world when it comes to international tourism,” informed Dr Abhay Sinha, DG, SEPC.
“Therefore, as a sector that contributes to more than 31.8 million jobs, it is of paramount importance to understand how the businesses in that sector are performing, what is their support eco-system and what we can do to augment this reach,” he added.
While elaborating further, Dr Abhay said that the mission is to understand what it would take from the council, the stakeholders, and the ministry to go beyond the growth trajectory of the last decade.
“The strategy should be about charting the course for this sector for the next 25 years when India will complete 100 years of independence. With perceptual change positioning India as a year around destination, favorable travel policies and aids, infrastructure development, there needs to be a blueprint in place,” he added.
SEPC under the Ministry of Commerce is working around the clock to propound innovative ideas to augment inbound tourism and accelerate engagement with the travel and tourism trade industry. The Hospitality and Tourism Conclave was an effort in this similar vein.
