TravTalk India Online Magazine
The inaugural edition of Tourism Powerhouse—a PATA India initiative, recently held at The Park New Delhi, saw in presence eminent speakers from across the world addressing 200 delegates.
Nisha Verma
PATA India’s first Tourism PowerHouse opened to a gathering of 200 delegates, including experts in international tourism as well as stalwarts of the Indian tourism and hospitality industry. Themed on ‘Decoding Tourism Today’, the event opened with the traditional lamp lighting ceremony by Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA; John Koldowski, Special Advisor to CEO, PATA; SanJeet, Vice Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Jatinder Taneja, Secretary, PATA India Chapter and Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO.
Hardy addressed the gathering by speaking on ‘The Impact of the visitor economy’. “It’s a great initiative to bring both the public and private sector of the industry together. This is what PATA is all about. A lot of information was shared on current industry trends and the phenomenal growth of tourism and ways to implement best practices,” said Hardy.
The keynote address was delivered by Koldowski, after which Verma shared her vision of the government with delegates. She said, “We need to clearly draw up a roadmap to lead us to where we want to be. Last year has been very encouraging in terms of foreign tourist arrivals. MOT has been taking many initiatives.”
Jatinder Taneja
Secretary, PATA India Chapter
“The inbound tourism has grown by 15.6 per cent in 2017. India is now ranking 40th at World Economic Forum, Travel and Tourism competitiveness index. 1.7 million foreign tourists arrived on e-visa during 2017.”
