Tourism federations and West Bengal government collaborate to prepare strategic tourism road map

FAITH is a policy federation of 10 national associations representing the tourism, travel and hospitality industry in India.

This first meeting in series in pursuance to the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the two was mostly about reaching a consensus to evaluate in detail many of the issues concerning tourism, travel and hospitality industry.

Among other things, the focus was on policy for heritage tourism, direct and last mile connectivity for tourist destinations, strengthening single window clearance mechanism for tourism, seamless tourist transportation, adventure and eco-tourism policy, prioritization of top 10 tourism products & segments, marketing & awareness campaigns, development of district-wise tourism inventory and tourism calendars.

The workshop discussed ways to evolve an eclectic and holistic tourism strategy for tapping the immense tourism potential of the state; connecting tourism with the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the state thereby promoting and protecting folk art, craft and folk genres.

It was decided to constitute sub-groups for more focused attention on niche tourism sectors including Heritage Tourism, Rural Tourism, Film Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Eco Tourism, River Tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) Tourism.

It was also decided that there was a need for skilling, re-skilling and upskilling different professionals and stakeholders engaged in the travel and tourism industry.
 
The state’s Chief Secretary Dr HK Dwivedi and FAITH chairman Nakul Anand were present at the meeting.

Also present were key government officials across departments, Harshvardhan Neotia (Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group), and Nazib Arif (EVP Corporate Communication, ITC).

A milestone and timeline-based implementation roadmap will be put in place by the joint task force for subsequent consideration by the state government.