PATA India’s Tourism PowerHouse opens to august gathering

PATA India’s first-ever Tourism PowerHouse opened to a packed gathering on August 5, 2018, at The Park, New Delhi. The initiative is set to bring the minds of the tourism industry’s leadership together to help fully tap India’s tourism potential, in line with global best practices. The august gathering had in attendance Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India and Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA; John Koldowski, an international tourism research expert; Amit Thakran, Team Leader, Consulting & Research, CAPA; SanJeet, Vice Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Jatinder Taneja, Hony. Secretary, PATA India Chapter and Vikram Madhok, Hony. Treasurer, PATA India Chapter.

At the event, Koldowski delivered the keynote address on ‘Tourism Trends & Opportunities’. He said, “India is perceived as the PowerHouse of South Asia tourism. According to UNWTO data, the numbers in terms of international tourist arrivals into Asia between 200o and 2017, have climbed dramatically.”
Hardy spoke about the impact of the visitor economy. He said, “India has a phenomenal history. A better way to market the country is to have people of India telling stories. We are experiencing phenomenal growth in travel and tourism. Around 1.3 billion people have crossed borders and the number is increasing still. But, are we prepared for continuous growth?”

He added, “By 2050, there will be 11 billion people living on this planet. Think of the implication of this – the infrastructure requirement for the 80 per cent living in the city. We, at PATA, are transforming our organisation for it to become more about thought leadership. Where does India want to be in 50 years from now? It is about the type of tourist you want to have in the country, not just the number of tourists. PATA is all about bringing both public and private sectors together.”