“THE INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT WILL WORK IN TANDEM WITH THE TOURISM SECTOR”

Third day of RDTM 2022

Jaipur 24 July: The Rajasthan Minister of Industries, Ms Shakuntala Rawat today visited the Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) 2022. She also went around the exhibition and expressed her appreciation on the number of tourism products displayed. On the occasion, the Minister said that Rajasthan, under the able leadership of Shri Ashok Gehlot, has taken pivotal steps to promote tourism. Granting industry status to Tourism and Hospitality sector as well as earmarking a whopping sum of Rs 1000 crores for tourism development has made the state a forerunner in this sector.

While addressing a knowledge session on the promotion of Agro and Rural Tourism, the Minister categorically stated that the Industries department would like to work in tandem with the tourism sector. She said that tourism would be one of the thrust sectors in the forthcoming ‘Invest Rajasthan’, scheduled to be held in Jaipur on 7-8 October. She also appreciated the Rural and Agro policy and said that Rajasthan is taking the lead in this area as well. Earlier President FHTR, Mr. Apurv Kumar welcomed the Minister and said that the success of RDTM will translate into a considerable increase in the number of tourism footfalls. Vice President FHTR, Mr. Rajendra Pachar, gave a presentation on Agro Tourism. He said that earlier tourists wanted to stay in five star hotels and later in heritage properties and resorts. In times to come, they will all want to live in Agro Resorts. Vice President FHTR, Mr. Surendra Singh Shahpura urged the Minister to clear some of the pending issues with the industries department. The Minister said that she will soon convene a meeting with the tourism stakeholders and department officers to settle the issues. The Minister also released the Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart 2022 Buyer-Seller Directory.

The participants of the RDTM, both buyers (Domestic Tour Operators) and sellers (Owners of Tourism products) seemed upbeat buoyant at the response received at this mega Travel Mart. As informed by Vice President FHTR and Chairman RDTM, Mr. Khalid Khan, as many as 9000 structured B2B meetings were held in the last two days. He then expressed his gratitude to the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, as well as the exhibiters and buyers for their participation and support. Three stalls were also given awards for best display: HRH, Banswara and Sahdev Bagh, Pushkar.

5 more knowledge sessions were held today. The first session about Scope of Medical Tourism in Rajasthan, was taken by Lt. General Dr. K.K. Singh; which was followed by a session on Medical Value Tourism – Time to Reposition India as Destination for Credible and Affordable Healthcare by Dr. Abhay Sinha, DG SEPC. The next session was on Catalysing Dental Health Tourism in Rajasthan by Dr. Nishant Gupta; which was further followed by a session on Medical Tourism and Ayurveda by Prof. Sanjeev Sharma, Vice Chancellor National Institute of Ayurveda. The concluding session was on Tourism Policies and Incentives for Investment in Tourism Sector in Rajasthan. The panel included: Mr. Sanjay Mamgen, Joint Direct Dept. of Industries and Commerce, Government of Rajasthan, Mr. Pawan Kumar Jain, Joint Director, Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Rajasthan, Mr. Surendra Singh Shahpura, MD Shahpura Hotels And CA Virendra Singh Shekhawat, Hospitality Consultant.
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