Under the framework of G20, Ministry of Tourism will organise its first Tourism Working Group  meeting from 7^th to 9^th February 2023 in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat.

Briefing the Media in New Delhi today,  Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri Arvind Singh  said that in G20, there are 5 inter related priority areas for tourism . Accordingly, thrust will  be on  these five priorities areas i.e.  greening of tourism sector, harnessing the power of digitisation, empowering youth with skills, nurturing tourism MSMEs/ startups and rethinking the strategic management of destinations. He further explained that   side events on Rural and Archaeological tourism will be organised to promote tourism during the first Working Group Meeting. He also informed that success stories of Indian tourism will be showcased to the foreign delegates during the same.

The Secretary disclosed that one of the priorities through G20 platform is to reach a consensus on how the SDG goals will be achieved by 2030. As a part of this, there will be emphasis on sustainable tourism which is important not only for environment but also to create opportunities for local enterprise.  

Shri Arvind Singh said that G20 will help in raising awareness about the tourism potential of India at the global level as the delegates of the meetings at 55 different locations will be exposed to Indian culture and tourist destinations. He also informed that delegates of Rann of Kutch meeting will be taken to Dholavira which is a UNESCO world heritage site and through this people in our own country and in other countries will come to know about such sites which will help in enhancing tourism.

The Secretary also added that the improvement in hospitality and management skills of the local populace, especially the youth who would attend to the influx of tourists is also an agenda. The same has also been one of the key highlights of the budget for FY2023-24. He also mentioned that there will be live demonstrations of the local arts and handicrafts before the delegates and also the farewell gifts to the delegates will be under  the One District One Product initiative.

Giving more details, Shri Arvind Singh said that 3 mega tourism related events are being organised to take advantage of the G20 Presidency. These include Global Investors’ Summit in April, MICE Convention and meeting of World Tourism CEOs Forum.  These are in addition to the G20 related events.

Shri Arvind Singh also  informed that Ministerial level Communique, entailing the direction which the different countries have agreed upon to take forward during G20 meetings,  will be presented at the end of the summit. The different places chosen for the G20 events will encompass different flavours like rural, archaeological, historical etc.

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NB/SK