The 79 edition of India International Travel Mart (IITM) that kicked off on Friday expects a footfall of between 15,000 and 20,000 discerning travel seekers, including a few thousands of tourism and travel service providers.
Interestingly, after the State formation, this is the first tourism meet and while Telangana is the host State, Malaysia is the partner country and Gujarat the partner State, said Rohit Hangal, director, Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions that conducts IITM. Andhra Pradesh is the co-host and is among the 20 Indian States that are participating, apart from five nations.
Interacting with presspersons after the inaugural, he said they got a footfall of 12,000 travel seekers last year. They expect a considerable increase in the presence of service providers this year, he said, adding that IITM had a service provider base number about 2,000 in Telangana State, primarily in and around Hyderabad.
Director of J&K Tourism, Talat Parvez, said the State had returned to normalcy after being ravaged by the floods. He said they had re-drafted their travel options, making tourist offerings by the season. “J&K is rightly called ‘Paradise on Earth’ and we take pride in showcasing our adventure and spiritual destinations for people of all faiths,” said Mr. Parvez.
Additional Chief-Project Monitoring of Telangana Tourism, B. Srinivas, said India’s newest State has everything to offer for tourists – be it heritage, spiritual, adventure or eco-tourism. “Our focus now is on marketing our destinations with customised options,” he said.
Deputy Director of Rajasthan Tourism, Anand K. Tripathi, said Rajasthan and Telangana had several similarities. “Rajasthan has sheer royalty and deserts and through service providers, we are motivating tourists from Telangana to visit our State as there is good air and rail connectivity between the two States,” he said.
