The North East Region of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is endowed with diverse tourist attractions and products. The varied topography of the region, its flora and fauna, the ethnic communities with their rich heritage of ancient traditions and lifestyles, its festivals, arts and crafts, make it a holiday destination waiting to be explored.
8th International Tourism Mart was held from 23-25 November 2019 at Imphal, Manipur
The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North Eastern States organized the eighth “International Tourism Mart” (ITM) at Imphal, Manipur between 23 November to 25 November, 2019.
The event was jointly inaugurated on 23rd November 2019 by Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh. Secretary, Tourism, Shri Yogendra Tripathi and other dignitaries from Central Ministries and North Eastern States were also present during the event.
This was the 8th International Tourism Mart and an annual event organised in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. Every year, the event brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States. This years event was planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, Government agencies and other stakeholders.
The 8th International Tourism Mart, put the spotlight on “Sustainable Tourism an engine for Economic Growth and Employment”. Besides deliberations on promotion of tourism in the North East Region in general, the Mart also give a platform for promoting cultural ties, providing enhanced connectivity to the States of North Eastern Region with other countries in India’s neighborhood.
The second day of the ITM kicked off with presentations made by all the 8 North East State Tourism Departments i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim who made a presentation to showcase their tourist destinations.
After the presentations a panel discussion was moderated by the Smt. Rupinder Brar, Addl. Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India wherein eminent panelists comprising of Shri Chetan Gupta, Representing Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India, Shri Arjit Purkayastha, a leading Tour Operator of the North East Region and Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President Adventure Tour Operators Association of India deliberated on “Sustainable Tourism as an engine for Economic Growth and Employment”.
Buyer and Media delegates from around the world and from different regions of the country participated in the Mart and engaged in one-on-one meetings with sellers from the North East Region. This event also enabled the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers, with the objective of promoting tourism to the region.
A total of 36 foreign Buyer delegates from over 19 countries namely Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Czech, Dubai, Italy, Japan, Oman, Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, USA, UK, Vietnam participated in the Mart. Besides, the foreign delegates, 49 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from other parts of the country and 109 sellers from the North Eastern States also participated in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of these North East States were also present to showcase their tourist destinations and they had the opportunity over two days to interact with the delegates who participated in the event.
International and Domestic Buyers had an opportunity to engage in business-to-business meetings with sellers from the North Eastern Region. In addition to these the three-day event also showcased presentations by state governments on their tourism potential. There was also a cultural evening, and sightseeing visit to local attraction – The Loktak Lake on the last day of the event.
An exhibition by State Tourism Departments from the North Eastern States including display of beautiful handicrafts and handlooms was organised to show case the tourism products of respective participating States. The state government of Madhya Pradesh was also invited this year, to participate and give a presentation as it is a paired state with Manipur under the “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” initiative of the Prime Minister of India. They made a presentation to a group of around 150 local University and College students who got an insight about the tourist attractions, fairs & festivals, handicrafts, culture, historical monuments, cuisine, wildlife, adventure activities etc. of the State of Madhya Pradesh.
The students raised various queries regarding Madhya Pradesh during the interactive session after the interesting presentation, made by Shri A.K. Rajoria, Director (Investment Promotion) MPSTDC. Additionally, the students as well as the delegates witnessed the traditional Gond paintings by a Gond artist who was specially flown for this purpose from Bhopal.
Overwhelming response was received this year, for taking post-mart familiarization tours to the North Eastern states by foreign buyer delegates. This was an opportunity to create awareness about their rich and varied tourism products of the North Eastern region and to give them a first-hand experience of the destination.
All the delegates of the ITM 2019 participated in the inaugural function of the Sangai Festival later in the evening at Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT) which was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh in the presence of 8 Head of Missions of ASEAN countries. All the invitees witnessed a well choreographed Manipuri cultural programme and the day ended with a dinner hosted by the Government of Manipur
The International Tourism Marts are organised in the North Eastern States on rotation basis. Manipur had the opportunity to host this mart for the second time.The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok, Agartala.