Looking at facilitating investments in tourism sector, Rajasthan government is organising a ‘Research in Rajasthan’ programme in mid-November, 2015. During her inaugural address at the 8th edition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2015, Vasundhara Raje, chief minister, Rajasthan Government, stated that the event will be focused on attracting investments in hospitality, improving the tourism circuits, etc. “The three day ‘Research in Rajasthan’ event will be inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi and will be bringing in many countries like Singapore, Japan and England to discuss the various investment opportunities. We will be working together for this investment programme,” she informed.
The ongoing two-day event of GITB, organised by the Department of Tourism, Rajasthan government, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is witnessing participation from 277 foreign buyers from 45 countries and 199 exhibitors. “With over 10,000 structured B2B meetings and support from 10 state government and organisations like Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), Hotel and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Rajasthan Tour operators (RATO) and other tourism organisations, this is the largest GITB organised so far, since its inception,” stated Dr A Didar Singh, secretary general, FICCI.
Highlighting the state tourism statistics, Raje mentioned that the tourism sector in Rajasthan will see a major surge by 2018. “By 2018, we expect the foreign tourist arrivals to reach 2.5 million from the current 1.5 million and the domestic traffic to be around 50 million from the present 30 million.” she stated.