TravTalk India Online Magazine
Indiatourism has been aggressively engaging travel agents during the pandemic and has now upped its game by conducting physical events and familiarisation tours, this time with Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. Besides MP, tour operators from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Manipur were invited for the event and tour.
Hazel Jain
Under its ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative, Indiatourism Mumbai office recently conducted a roadshow in Indore in association with the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB). Present at the roadshow was Sonia Meena, Deputy Secretary and Additional Managing Director, MPTB. The occasion was also graced by Yogendra Tripathi, former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.
Tour operators and travel agents from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Manipur and Madhya Pradesh were part of this roadshow that was followed by a three-day familiarisation tour to Mandu and Maheshwar in MP along with a city tour of Indore, sponsored by MPTB. More than 20 agents were a part of these familiarisation tours. The new regional airline,Flybig,was also part of this and had sponsored the tickets for Ahmedabad-Indore-Ahmedabad for around 10 travel agents. Mandu and Maheshwar are among the key focus areas for the tourism board. It had recently announced the second edition of its popular Mandu Festival for February 13 and 14, 2021. In a celebration to bring the focus back on this quaint fort city – Mandu, MPTB has been highlighting this destination and promoting it among travel agents as well as on social media.
Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary of Tourism in Madhya Pradesh and Managing Director, MPTB, said during a virtual roadshow, “Moving a step ahead from the mindful tourism we offered, we have become a heartfelt tourist destination. We have witnessed high footfall within a period of one month and have had an estimated 2.25 lakh visitors between December 15, 2020 and January 15 this year. It was 1.5 lakh in the same time period in 2019. It is an optimistic sign and people are travelling
to unravel.”
Highlighting new points of interest, Shukla said the tourism board strives to establish a strong emphasis on rural tourism and economic activities in the state’s small pockets.
