Ministry of Tourism to host G20 Tourism Expo in Rajasthan

In keeping with India’s G20 Presidency and on-going meetings of G20 countries, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is all set to host the G20 Tourism Expo in Jaipur, Rajasthan from 23rd to 25th April 2023.

The G20 Tourism Expo is being organized simultaneously with the 12th edition of Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB). GITB, one of the biggest events of inbound tourism in India, is co-organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India along with Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The special G20 Tourism Expo will include panel discussions, ambassadors’ roundtable, cultural eventing, game of golf and other programmes.

The inaugural session of G20 Tourism Expo will be addressed by India’s G20 Sherpa Shri Amitabh Kant and Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

In a special arrangement, the foreign tour operators (FTOs) from G20 nations will be travelling on ‘The Palace on Wheels’ from New Delhi to Jaipur on April 22.

Being held after a gap of three years, GITB will witness over 11,000 B2B meetings of 283 tour operators from 56 countries, including 150+ from G20 countries, with the representatives of Tourism Boards from 11 states namely – Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, apart from Rajasthan along with more than 290 Indian Exhibitors.

Being attended by the stalwarts of the tourism, travel and hospitality sector of India, the event will witness some of the leading names of governance, policy making and industry coming together on one platform to deliberate on the future of India’s travel and tourism industry.

The eminent speakers slated to address the event include Shri Vishvendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan; Shri Murari Lal Meena, Hon’ble Minister (state) of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan; Shri Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa; Smt. Usha Sharma, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan; Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Smt Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary- Tourism, Art & Culture, Government of Rajasthan and Mr Dipak Deva, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism & Culture Committee among others.

Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India said, “The G20 Presidency has provided India a strong platform to promote its vision of sustainable/green tourism. The GoI is working with G20 countries to promote five areas – digitalization, promotion of MSMEs, skilling of people, destination management and promotion of waste management which are essential to aid the growth of the tourism sector. We hope G20 Tourism Expo, along with GITB will provide further boost to the tourism sector to regain the momentum and further build on the same to achieve India’s sustainable/green tourism vision.”

Terming the event as the trailblazer, Smt Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary – Tourism, Art & Culture of Rajasthan Government said, “The State Government has taken bold and visionary steps to promote tourism and hospitality. In the past year, a whopping 381 MoU’s/LoI’s were signed which will generate an investment of Rs. 14,146 crores creating employment for 61,054 persons. The State budget of 23 -24 is also encouraging for investment as rationalisation of DLC rates and concessions on stamp duty have been announced with a 1,500 crore allocation for promotion of tourism. I’m sure this event will add to the strengths of our efforts.”

Excited over the encouraging response received from the industry and foreign participants, including from G20 nations, Mr. Dipak Deva, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism & Culture Committee said, “The tourism industry has endured a lot of hardships due to Covid, but that is behind us now. From just 1.52 million Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in 2021, India recorded 6.19 million FTAs in 2022, registering a massive four-fold increase. We hope to keep the momentum and are aiming at 11 million FTAs, that is where we were in 2019. GITB will play an important role in that objective.”

A knowledge paper on inbound tourism will also be released during the inaugural session of the mega event.

Entry to both G20 Tourism Expo and GITB 2023 is restricted to registered Foreign Buyers and Indian Exhibitors only.

The premier tourism event is supported by leading national and regional associations like Hotel & Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) and Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO).

The first edition of the GITB was held in 2008 and since then has grown from strength to strength and is considered a force to recon within the inbound travel market of India.