Vinod Zutshi, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Nagesh Singh, Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, inaugurated the three-day International Conference on Rurality, Ruralism and Rural Tourism – Challenges and Coping Strategies at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. Organised by the Department of Tourism & Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, the ongoing conference is being attended by delegates from eminent tourism institutes from India and 25 other countries. “Rural tourism is at a nascent stage but there is a lot of scope and potential to promote rural destinations in India. It is an untapped market and we need to identify more and more destinations across the country,” said Zutshi during the conference sponsored by Ministry of Tourism. MP Bezbaruah, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism; S K Misra, Chairman, Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development and Ex-Secretary, Ministry of Tourism; Sujit Banerjee, Secretary General ,WTTC India attended the event while Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Government of Delhi is set to preside over the valedictory function. This conference will help bring various stakeholders on a single platform to discuss future tourism trends, ideas, implications and methodologies, theoretical and practical approaches for rural tourism development. The objective is to discuss the contemporary research in the area of rural tourism. The event will showcase rural life, art, culture, and heritage at rural locations and in villages, which have core competence in art and craft. Handloom, textiles, and also an asset base in the natural environment.
Read More »Sujit Banerjee is Legend in Public Service
Sujit Banerjee, Secretary General, WTTC, India Initiative, has been honoured with the Legend in Public Service award. He retired as Union Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism. Banerjee has served the Government of India in various capacities in his distinguished career as an Officer of the Indian Administrative Service. In his career, he has served as Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission; Secretary and Chairperson of National Authority, Chemical Weapons Convention. He also headed a committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to formulate guidelines for forest and wildlife ecotourism in the country. He has served as Member on the Ethics Committee of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises; as Chairman, Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters, Ministry of Culture; as a part-time non-official Director on the Board of SAIL and as Chairman, Committee for National Heritage Sites, Ministry of Culture.
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