Sikkim networks at India International Travel & Tourism Exhibition

GANGTOK, 17 Jan: Tourism Minister Bhim Dhungel joined the Sikkim Tourism team at the India International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (IITT) being held from 16-18 January at the MMRDA Exhibition Center at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. The event is being jointly organized by Asian Business Exhibition & Conferences Ltd and ITE Group PLC and is being supported by the Union Tourism Ministry.
The event is aimed at facilitating networking among domestic and international buyers and giant corporate houses of the travel industry and also to provide a platform for the exhibitors to showcase their services and products to their counterparts across India and the overseas.
In his address, the Minister highlighted the various achievements and programmes of the state in the tourism sector.
“Tourism in Sikkim is the major engine of economic development and Sikkim has grown a lot. We have over 500 registered travel agencies and about 350 registered hotels,” an official press communiqué quotes Mr Dhungel as stating.
He thanked the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for its support and guidance in setting up the Indian Himalayan Center for Adventure & Eco Tourism and various other projects. The Minister ended his address by inviting all to visit Sikkim.
He also reminded the audience of the lavish endorsement received recently by Sikkim from Lonely Planet.
“Sikkim needs no introduction as for the past number of years it has been winning numerous awards in tourism and has also been voted as the number 1 place to visit in 2014 by the Lonely Planet. The travel advisory of the Lonely Planet has said, ‘Sikkim has set new benchmarks for responsible travel in the country.’ It cited Sikkim’s record in India’s cleanest state and its sustainable community – based tourism in less developed areas,” he detailed.
Apart from the exhibition, IITT 2014 features knowledge seminars on key industry issues, expert perspectives and highlight the challenges of the tourism industry. The event also offers avenues to interact and build relationships for future businesses for the rapidly evolving Indian travel and tourism market in terms of inbound, outbound and domestic travel.