TBM Staff - Mumbai The Tourism Committee of FTCCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry ) has pushed for Industry status for Tourism Industry as well as Tourism Policy. The committee which met at FTCCI decided in its maiden meeting on Wednesday. The committee members are industry veterans and experts in their respective domains.
The Tourism Committee is one of the 21 Committees of FTCCI. Its sole aim is to be the voice for the Tourism Industry, liaise with the Government on matters of its concern and promote the same.
The meeting was chaired by Rakhi Kankaria as Chairperson along with D. Ramchandram, Mohan Lal, Co-Chairmen in the presence of FTCCI’s President Meela Jayadev, Vice Presidents Suresh Kumar Singhal and Ravikumar and Advisors Gowra Srinivas, Past President of FTCCI, Ashish Kumar, VP & Chief Commercial Officer, Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, S. Vijay Mohan Raj of Sameera Travels felt that there was a strong need for the same.
Eleven States in our country have accorded ‘industry status’ to the tourism sector. These 11 states are Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Goa, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. Telangana doesn’t figure in this list. At the same time, the committee said, those who got the industry status, were just on paper. But the benefits still elude the industry.
Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy, creates thousands of jobs, and develops the infrastructure of a state or country. Worldwide, 44 countries rely on the travel and tourism industry for more than 15% of their total share of employment. Several states such as Kerala, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir in India depend on it. Travel and Tourism is an important economic activity in many geographies. Telangana with so many unexplored tourist attractions must explore its full potential, they felt.
The committee also decided to push for a Tourism Policy. India as a nation doesn’t have a Tourism Policy yet. The work is in progress. The draft Policy is ready. Karnataka, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and others have Tourism Policies. Tourism policy is a must to promote the state as an attractive tourism destination and place it. prominently on the domestic and global tourism map.
To achieve these objectives, the committee is also planning to meet Tourism officials of the state and centre very soon and is devising its plans accordingly.
The committee also deliberated that there was a strong need to take up a promotional drive to promote Visit Telangana, an initiative to explore tourist attractions in the state. Part of this can be to explore tourist destinations and visit 5 local destinations in the next 12 months.
It is also embarked on skill development. Also working on many initiatives such as Tourism Quiz, Skill Development, Knowledge Sharing Sessions, Speaker Programs etc. It has also decided to hold the Limerick Contest, to showcase and celebrate the unique art of writing which is very special to Telangana which is now long forgotten. It is also an endeavour to revive its past glory
The participants were Ashok Kumar, Manager–India Interserve Travel Pvt Ltd; SVB Chary, Associate Director of Sales–IndiGo; Akash Raj Saxena, Manager Sales, Bird Travels GSA fro Oman Air; Anindya Acharya, Head-Arilines Marketing & Route Development, GMR Hyd International Airport Ltd; Manohar Reddy, General Manager of KIMS Hospital; Sailesh Kumar Mathur, Group General Manager of Hotel Abode and Akhilesh Washikar of Tatva Arts.
