BENGALURU: The three-day India International Travel Mart 2019 was inaugurated at the city’s Palace Grounds by Praveen Kumar, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Andhra Pradesh government, here on Friday.
“In India, domestic tourism is dominated by pilgrimage tourism. However, the upcoming trend is that of adventure and eco-tourism. In Andhra Pradesh for example, we are developing Gandikota as an attraction for water and adventure sports. Artistic tourism is also catching up where tourists will stay in villages and learn how to make handicrafts, wood carvings, sculpting and other art work from local artisans,” said
Praveen Kumar.
Devaraj, director, Indian Enterprise Development Service, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) said, “This is for the first time the MSME sector is part of the tourism expo. People think MSME is just about manufacturing ... but it is also related to the service sector. There are several players dealing with handicrafts, food and textiles that can work with big resorts, hotels and travel agencies through such plaftorms.”
Private and government tourism corporations from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and other states have set up their stalls at the expo. Foreign participants include Bahrain, China, New Zealand, Singapore, UAE and Indonesia.