The initiative is aimed to rediscover old ties and explore new opportunities for the future
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India’s 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. The initiative is aimed to rediscover old ties and explore new opportunities for the future.
India’s diverse and unique tourism products were at display at the Italy edition of the Incredible India Reconnect 2022 virtual roadshow.
The Incredible India Reconnect 2022 Virtual Roadshow began with remarks from Dr Neena Malhotra, Ambassador of India to Italy. She highlighted the importance of the efforts of the tourism ministry to reignite 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 were 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 by recalling the Prime Minister’s slogan ‘Chalo India’ mentioned in his address to the Indian diaspora in Denmark. The call for the diaspora was for each of them to invite five 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.
The virtual roadshow was part 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
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.
Antonio Barreca, Director General, Federation of Tourism Industry highlighted that Italian tourists have traditionally been very enthusiastic about Indian culture, the outdoors, the cities, and the general vibrancy and diversity of India. He mentioned how Italy and India can together compete on quality and excellence, while offering each other technical knowhow allowing opportunities for knowledge transfer.
Maria Elena ROSSI, Marketing & Promotion Director, ENIT – Italian National Tourist Board, spoke at length about new initiatives being taken by the Board with respect to digitalization and sustainability. She mentioned how India and Italy can get together to join hands and create tourism and travel professionals for the bright future of this industry.
Pierpaolo Di Nardo from Maldindia Tour Operators, spoke about his passion for India given it being a destination which changed his life for the better. He mentioned how he was trying to give back to India by spreading knowledge about the rich and diverse destination that is India, through tailor made thematic trips to India exposing tourists to yoga, music, dance, and architecture in India. His experience only reiterated the importance of India being a must-visit experiential transformative destination.
The virtual roadshow was part 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.
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