Bringing in the big bucks

The two-day FICCI Tourism Investment Meet set the pace for driving investments for tourism development by bringing together state governments and investors.

FICCI Tourism Investment Meet was held in New Delhi on July 5-6, 2017, in an attempt to facilitate investment in tourism through one-onone meetings. State tourism departments showcased their policies and facilities that would encourage potential investors to capitalise on tourism.

Governments of states like Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra and West Bengal took part in the meet and solicited investment in tourism infrastructure through presentations and face-to-face pre-scheduled meetings with the investors. Speaking at the inauguration, Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee, said, “Three years ago, we embarked on this journey and once again, we are back here to help facilitate investments in tourism infrastructure development. We have gathered investors from all around India – from hotels and resorts, convention centres, theme parks, adventure tourism, roadways, etc. and hope this will give tourism the essential push it needs.”

Rashmi Verma, Tourism Secretary, Government of India, said, “India has been jumping positions in several tourism-related reports and has been doing well, especially in the month of May, where the growth has been 19.4 per cent and is one of the highest achieved. This has been encouraging, as May is considered a lean month in our country. However, we have a long way to go and if we really want our industry to reach greater heights, investing in the development of tourism is the way forward.”

Other notable personalities present at the inauguration were Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand; along with Meenakshi Sundaram, Tourism Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand; Hari Ranjan Rao, MD, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Council; Nikhil Sahni, Senior President and Country Head of Government Relationship Management and Strategic Government Advisory, Yes Bank; and Rahul Chakravarty, Senior Director and Head – Tourism, FICCI.