India will hold its first ever International Tourism Exhibition on “ Global Travel Mart – India” next year. This was announced by Union Tourism Minister, Shri Subodh Kant Sahai in a press conference, here today.

He said many foreign countries will participate in this exhibition. The Minister said this will help in showcasing India’s Tourism potential to the world. He said Ministry of Tourism also plans to hold a conference of Tourism Minister of various countries who have signed MoU with India. This conference will also be held in India. A conclave of countries having large Buddhist population will also be held in India in next year January/February to give a boost to the Buddhist Tourism. 

Shri Sahai stressed upon to improve the connectivity between the nations and destinations to facilitate the tourist exchange Stressing upon the importance of close cooperation between the Tourism authorities and industries, the Minister said the tourists authorities can build infrastructure, do basic promotion and marketing but the ultimate results could depend upon the facts how active the Tourism industry is promote various destinations and tourism per se. 

Shri Sahai said India today receives approximately 0.5% of International Tourist Arrivals. Ministry has set an objective to increase our share in the International Tourist Arrivals to 1% by the end of 12th Five Year Plan. This will take tourist arrival from 5.5. million to almost 12 million tourists.