Successful culmination of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart-2016

Successful culmination of Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart-2016

[caption id="attachment_7901" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the Travel Mart, 2016 in Bhopal[/caption]

The three-day M.P. Travel Mart, 2016, was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on October 15, 2016, at 9.00 a.m. Shri Chouhan distributed awards to winners under the M.P. State Tourism Awards Distribution programme. A total of 30 awards were given in 22 categories. These awards are given in order to promote excellence in the Madhya Pradesh Tourism sector. Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) and Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare, Shri Surendra Patwa and Chairman of State Tourism Development Corporation, Shri Tapan Bhoumik, were also present on the occasion.

Around 70 hosted buyers from 28 countries, 175 domestic buyers from 54 Indian cities and a total of 61 Exhibitors, out of which 50 Sellers / Exhibitors being from Madhya Pradesh, took part in the third edition of M.P. Travel Mart. Presidents of major National Travel Trade Associations like IATO, ADTOI, ATOAI and ITTA also attended the Mart.

A platform was provided for setting up meetings amongst the attendees and more than 1900 such business meetings took place in the two days of the Travel Mart.

A special Training and Development programme was conducted for the sellers and the sales team of MP Tourism to prepare them for handling the Hosted Buyer meeting experience and to make the overall engagement with the attendees more effective.

Deliberations were held on the scope of tourism industry, how to attract more investment in it, how to increase the number of tourists and how to encourage international tourism besides hotels and hospitality in Madhya Pradesh. A presentation focusing on efforts being undertaken for enhancing tourism in Madhya Pradesh was given by the Secretary Tourism and Managing Director of Tourism Development Corporation, Shri Hari Ranjan Rao in the M. P. Travel Mart. Views were exchanged on the wide scope in tourism sector and how to accelerate tourism development in Madhya Pradesh.

Representatives of Indian Association of Tour Operators, Travel Agent Association of India, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association and Adventure Tour Operator Association of India, Travel Operators for Tigers, etc, took part in the M.P. Travel Mart.

An early Morning Heritage Walk was organized this time which got a tremendous response, as over 175 hosted buyers attended the Walk and experienced the interesting sights of the city of Bhopal.

For the first time a live webinar was organized on “A chance for Building Partnerships in Madhya Pradesh”. Not only the attendees but also the buyers across the globe, who could not make it to the MP travel mart this time, benefited from the webinar. Several presenters made presentations to showcase Madhya Pradesh’s Wildlife, Culture and Heritage tourism.

A special Simultaneous interpretation technology was used for translating the live address of the dignitaries for the sake of international buyers who came in from the various parts of the globe.

All in all the M.P. Travel Mart was a huge success and resulted in the creation of many new opportunities in the Madhya Pradesh tourism sector.