TravTalk India Online Magazine
Punjab Tourism recently organised a four-city roadshow in Jaipur, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi to create awareness about the state’s Tourism Summit and Travel Mart. The roadshow focused on attracting investments for creating tourism infrastructure in the state.
Suhani Sood
With a view to attract investments in the tourism sector, Punjab government culminated its four-city roadshow in Delhi recently. The roadshow, earlier held in Jaipur, Mumbai and Hyderabad, aimed to create awareness about the state’s Tourism Summit and Travel Mart, which was held at Amity University in Mohali from 11-13 September. Through the four-city roadshow, Punjab showcased its rich culture and history and sought investments for developing adventure, water, M!CE and eco-tourism in the state. The roadshow in Delhi
was graced by the presence of Anmol Gagan Maan, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, Punjab and Rakhee Gupta Bhandari, IAS, Principal Secretary Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Punjab.
Mann, in her keynote address, said, “We are aggressively promoting tourism to increase domestic and international footfall, which will, in turn, provide employment opportunities.” Elaborating upon the various fiscal incentives, she said that Punjab government has launched a couple of initiatives like Invest Punjab, Industrial Policy 2022, Wellness Policy, along with a revised Eco-tourism and Culture Policy. “We have received amazing response from travel agents and tourism bodies during the four-city roadshow,” she added.
Elaborating upon the Punjab Travel Mart, Mann said, “It will serve as a medium to entice forward-thinking tourism professionals from nation and the world. Domestic and foreign tour operators, DMCs, DMOs, travel trade media and hoteliers are invited to participate. With this dynamic collection of stakeholders, Punjab aspires to establish itself as a premier destination.”
Diverse facets
Manmeet Singh, Chairman, IATO – Punjab Chapter, said that with diverse facets like culture, history, art, dance, food, and heritage, Punjab has a lot to offer to the visitors. “It is good, as well as bad, that Punjab’s potential has not been discovered yet. The bad part is that we were not able to showcase Punjab’s potential earlier. Coming to the positive part, we will actually be able to show Punjab in a new light through this tourism mart,” he said.
Officials excited over tourism prospects
Expressing excitement over the tourism summit, Bhandari said that Punjab has so far shown only red and green colours to the world, which represent sacrifice, fertility and green revolution. “However, now is the wakeup call to showcase other colours as well,” she said. Bhandari emphasized on two key initiatives – wellness and women in tourism. “Punjab’s aspiration to become a wellness hub aligns seamlessly with its cultural heritage. Additionally, empowering women in tourism promises socio-economic growth. By fostering women’s participation and offering training and financial support, we aim to catalyse positive change,” she said.
