TravTalk India Online Magazine
The 1st Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM), organised by Federation of Hospitality & Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) and Rajasthan Tourism, concluded in Jaipur with 200 exhibitors and 200 hosted buyers.
Nisha Verma from Jaipur
Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart recently concluded in Jaipur after a grand inaugural ceremony and two days of B2B meetings. The gala inaugural was held at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, amidst the presence of Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Tourism, Government of India as the chief guest alongside Kuldeep Ranka, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Forest & Environment, Art & Culture, Govt of Rajasthan; and Lalit Panwar, Former Secretary Tourism and Vice Chancellor, Rajasthan, ILD Skills University (RISU). Bhim Singh, President, FHTR and Gyan Prakash, Secretary General, FHTR, welcomed delegates at the event.
Addressing the gathering, Billa said, “The mart is a very important step forward because the international end of the business has its way of organising itself. I think where we need to connect the dots is for the domestic market. Marts like these have the saluted effect of bringing buyers and sellers towards the domestic market. It is imperative that the initiative should come from the states because domestic marts should happen at the state level and we would be happy to support them.”
Lauding the team behind the event, Ranka, said that this is the first-ever initiative in the country focused on domestic tourism. “Rajasthan offers a panoply of palaces, forts, heritage, wildlife and lakes. In the recent past, Rajasthan has taken up development of different circuits like spiritual circuit, ecotourism circuit as well as the tribal circuit. All these initiatives have paved way for exploring the state in many new ways. The aggressive marketing campaign, and our presence in social media have also encouraged us to believe that RDTM will help us in promoting tourism in this part of the country with buyers and sellers having fruitful business through B2B meetings. ”
Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart recently concluded in Jaipur after a grand inaugural ceremony and two days of B2B meetings
To encourage the new initiative, Panwar claimed that a mart dedicated to domestic tourism was the need of the hour and other states should also emulate the same. “Rajasthan has taken a lead and other states should also follow suit. It’s a great platform for promotion of domestic tourism,” he claimed.
Singh said that it’s a great initiative to boost domestic tourism in Rajasthan. “The quality of domestic tourism coming to Rajasthan was not of the standard that could afford good quality hotels. Hence, we started promoting Rajasthan in the country in various states and elite customers looked at Rajasthan as an option for them, resulting in increase of domestic tourism to the state. Earlier the ratio of foreign arrivals to domestic arrivals was 70:30, but today it’s 30:70,” he claimed.
A total of 4,982 meetings were fixed in advance and many more happened at the event, revealed Prakash. “We joined hands with government of Rajasthan for this event to focus on domestic tourism. Apart from hotels in Rajasthan and tour operators from around the country, we also have event and wedding planners to look at the state as a wedding destination. We hope that this initiative could be a turn-around for domestic tourism in the state,” he said.
Prakash added that the main trade bodies supporting the event are Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), Hotels and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR) and Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO). “We have also taken support from national bodies like IATO, ADTOI and others. We reached out to the state level trade associations for supporting us and new markets which we have not been able to be reach, apart from the existing ones from where business has been coming consistently,” he concluded.
State Initiatives
- In the recent past, Rajasthan has taken up development of different circuits like spiritual circuit, ecotourism circuit as well as the tribal circuit
- All these initiatives have paved way for exploring the state in new ways
