Madhya Pradesh, once again was declared the best state at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-15. Gujarat and Karnataka clinched the second and third spot in the best state category. Kerala also took home four awards under various categories. The awards were given away during a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on July 30, 2016. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan graced the occasion as Chief Guest and gave away awards in various categories. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture presided over the function. Invitees for the function included Tourism Ministers of States and State Government Officials, members from the travel and hospitality industries including leading hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, MOTm in his welcome address said that the Tourism sector has now been accorded very high priority world over. Our GDP has grown with the development of Tourism. Foreign Tourists Arrival has now touched a new height and our Domestic Tourism is also booming. Many new initiatives of Ministry of Tourism in past two years are remarkable. Uday Pratap Singh, Addl. Secretary, MOT proposed the Vote of Thanks

The Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka has unveiled the newly formed Bengaluru Tourism Advisory Committee (BTAC) under the chairmanship of Priyank Kharge, Minister for Tourism and IT & BT. The scope of the committee is to provide quick action plans for developing Bengaluru region as a tourist destination by creating Brand Bengaluru, identifying different circuits and trails, offering tourism technologies, drawing a calendar of events, promoting art and culture, attracting PPP projects and engaging in inter-city-cooperation concepts. Understanding the tourism potential of Bengaluru and to brand it as a global city and the most favourable urban tourism destination, BTAC was formed after a month of brainstorming sessions and deliberations. Further the committee will help in positioning the state capital as a well connected holiday destination by involving local talent pool and the effective development of local employment and subsequent revenue generation. The committee will also be responsible in enhancing positive perceptions about the city through engagements with travellers across the world which, in turn, will help drive tourism, thus making Bengaluru a SMART global city. The committee will consist of the top officials in the Tourism Department and also experts from verticals such as heritage, urban, landscape, hospitality, architecture and conservationists who can contribute towards branding Bengaluru. As per the statistics provided by the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (KIAL), the international airport alone received 18 million travellers during 2015. Yet, Bengaluru has not been able to convert these travellers’ figures into tourists. It is estimated that with at least 25% of KIAL travellers spending one day in the city, a minimum revenue of $450 mn per year can be generated.

About 250 agents and in total 550 people attended Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) Kolkata just on Day 1, culminating in 9000+ meetings over the two days. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, GPS, said, “We received an overwhelming response from all states around. We had agents from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. This region has a huge potential and is untapped till now. Through GPS our exhibitors were able to meet agents from this region whom they generally don’t get to meet.” He added that the Kolkata edition saw 700-750 attendees both the days and close to 9000 meetings happened between the buyers and exhibitors over the two days.

The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) successfully concluded its two-city roadshow in Bengaluru and Mumbai with a delegation of 30 sellers that included hotels, special event venues, DMCs, and airlines. The delegation was led by Nooch Homrossukhon, Director (Meetings and Incentive), TCEB, with the top management of the Meetings and Incentive department. “The agenda for this roadshow was to promote newer destinations catering to the premium segment such as the riverside properties and the Silverlake vineyard in Pattaya. We also want to talk about options for CSR activities that Indian corporate companies can participate in, in Thailand,” she said. TCEB also hosted an exclusive networking dinner for corporate clients in Mumbai after the roadshow. The bureau recently launched its own location-based mobile application for corporates called ‘Biz Thailand’ that helps them find restaurants, attractions, entertainment, hotels, meeting spaces and convention centres around them.

The Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) Nagpur edition will be held from January 19-21, 2017. This was announced by Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, GPS, during the second and final day of GPS Kolkata. Anand said, “We’ve got an overwhelming response from all the regions that GPS has covered. Next year we will start with Nagpur edition from January 19-21. We will invite close to 200 agents, i.e. approximately 50 agents from each region. We will continue to have GPS at all the other cities where we had this year.” Anand also revealed that GPS will add two more cities to its itinerary next year. “We will try to add two more cities next year which have great tourism potential. But we are yet to decide on that,” he said.

The second edition of the Tourism Investors Meet (TIM) organised by FICCI brings together 72 buyers and seven sellers, who are representatives from difference state governments, and aims to host more than 600 meetings over two days, informed Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and Chairperson & MD, Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, at the addressing the inauguration of the summit. The event commenced on July 28 in New Delhi after a speaker session which was graced by Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, DIPP, Govt. of India, Nikhil Sahni, Senior President – Government Banking & Strategic Government Advisory, Yes Bank, Dr Didar Singh, Director General, FICCI. On the occasion, the dignitaries released the FICCI-YES Bank knowledge paper on ‘Investment in Tourism Infrastructure: Unleashing the Growth Potential’. Representatives from the tourism departments of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Telengana were present to showcase projects in a bid to attract more private players. Through the private public partnership model, the summit aims to harness the enormous investment opportunities offered by the tourism sector.

Effective September 26, 2016, IndiGo (6E) will operate its new daily non-stop flight between Chandigarh and Dubai at an all-inclusive return fare of Rs. 10,000. The airline also announced additional daily non-stop flight between Chandigarh and Delhi.Speaking on the launch to Dubai, Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo said, “We are very excited about the introduction of new launch from Chandigarh to Dubai. Chandigarh has been promising for us at IndiGo. We are excited to provide an international connection from Chandigarh which has been a long standing request from the people of city. The new service connecting Chandigarh with Dubai will reinforce our commitment to the State of Punjab & Haryana. This will also provide increased convenience for customers travelling from Himachal Pradesh & other adjoining cities of Punjab & Haryana.”

An Investment Desk will be set up by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Invest India to facilitate investment for tourism, revealed Vinod Zutshi, Secretary-Tourism, Govt. Of India at the Tourism Investors Summit 2016. In his keynote speech, he stressed that with tourism in India facing exponential growth, the infrastructure needs to be amped up to be on par. This year, foreign tourist arrivals in the country have been growing at an average of 8-9 per cent. With tourism occupying a 12.36 per cent employment share and a 6.88 per cent contribution to GDP, Zutshi stated that the core infrastructure – road, rail, air, and waterways, needs new additions as well as renovation.

Indana’s brand of royal hospitality with a modern twist will be coming to Jaipur in October 2016 with an 118-room hotel. Sharing details of the new property, Meera Pahwa, Vice President  Marketing  & Sales, Indana Hotels, said, “The new hotel will have lavish 350–800 sq ft deluxe rooms and suites. We will tap business and leisure tourists as it will have top-notch venues for MICE and amenities including a 8,000 sq.ft banquet hall, an over 40,000 sq.ft. landscaped lawn, fully equipped state-of the -art business centre and conference. Other amenities will include spa, health club, swimming pool and multiple F&B options. It will be a perfect fusion of historical elegance and modern luxury.” Indana has hosted discerning guests from around the world in the past at its Indana Palace Jodhpur property.

The maiden edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) Kolkata opened at ITC Sonar, Kolkata with 450+ attendees on Day 1. The show was inaugurated by Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, GPS, Rajeev Duggal, CEO, Lavassa, Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI, and other TAAI Managing Committee members. The show will conclude in Coimbatore next week.