By Rashmi Pradhan
THE BUSINESS session ’Western India-Untapped Domestic Tourism’ at the 4th edition of SATTE Mumbai West was moderated by Murari Mohan Jha, Editor, T3. Among the panelist were Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC); Pawan Jain, Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism; Pandurang Taware, President and MD, Agri Tourism Development Company Pvt. Ltd.; Yusuf Poonawala, Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King and Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels.
Domestic Tourism is the backbone of the tourism industry. It has always emerged as a savior for the industry in case of unfavourable circumstances such as global economic depression, unrest in source markets and so on. Analyst have suggested giving a thrust to domestic tourism to maintain the resilience of the industry. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, among others, have been focusing on the domestic market and reaping the benefits. However, Western India is yet to tap the potential of the domestic tourism, Western India has a miniscule 10 per cent share of the domestic tourism market. The session discussed on where the industry is lacking and corrective measures to be taken.
The session threw light on the potential of domestic tourism in western India and ways and means to tap the same. Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels, asked for a tourism policy specific to Mumbai. There is a need to focus on connectivity. ’It is important to focus on children in order to tap the family segment,’ he added.
Yusuf Poonawala, Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King said, ’There is a potential and tremendous demand for tourism destinations in the western region however, awareness of the destination is not there.’
Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, commented that the state was working on Tourism Policy for Maharashtra which should be unveiled by end of 2015. The policy is designed to invite stakeholders and investment opportunities in the state. ’We will launch the Scuba Diving Centre in Tarkali by October 1. We are in the process of upgrading the existing resorts and coming up with new MTDC resorts at tourist destinations,’ he added. Talking about the new Tourism Policy for Rajasthan, Pawan Jain, Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism, said that the new policy is pro-investment and hotel industry.
The panelist agreed that connectivity and awareness is important to boost domestic tourism.
Photo caption: The business session in progress, from left to right: Pandurang Taware, President and MD, Agri Tourism Development Company Pvt. Ltd.; Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels; Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC); Murari Mohan Jha, Editor, T3; Pawan Jain,-Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism; and Yusuf Poonawala,-Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King.
The Author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.
THE BUSINESS session ’Western India-Untapped Domestic Tourism’ at the 4th edition of SATTE Mumbai West was moderated by Murari Mohan Jha, Editor, T3. Among the panelist were Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC); Pawan Jain, Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism; Pandurang Taware, President and MD, Agri Tourism Development Company Pvt. Ltd.; Yusuf Poonawala, Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King and Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels.
Domestic Tourism is the backbone of the tourism industry. It has always emerged as a savior for the industry in case of unfavourable circumstances such as global economic depression, unrest in source markets and so on. Analyst have suggested giving a thrust to domestic tourism to maintain the resilience of the industry. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, among others, have been focusing on the domestic market and reaping the benefits. However, Western India is yet to tap the potential of the domestic tourism, Western India has a miniscule 10 per cent share of the domestic tourism market. The session discussed on where the industry is lacking and corrective measures to be taken.
The session threw light on the potential of domestic tourism in western India and ways and means to tap the same. Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels, asked for a tourism policy specific to Mumbai. There is a need to focus on connectivity. ’It is important to focus on children in order to tap the family segment,’ he added.
Yusuf Poonawala, Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King said, ’There is a potential and tremendous demand for tourism destinations in the western region however, awareness of the destination is not there.’
Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, commented that the state was working on Tourism Policy for Maharashtra which should be unveiled by end of 2015. The policy is designed to invite stakeholders and investment opportunities in the state. ’We will launch the Scuba Diving Centre in Tarkali by October 1. We are in the process of upgrading the existing resorts and coming up with new MTDC resorts at tourist destinations,’ he added. Talking about the new Tourism Policy for Rajasthan, Pawan Jain, Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism, said that the new policy is pro-investment and hotel industry.
The panelist agreed that connectivity and awareness is important to boost domestic tourism.
Photo caption: The business session in progress, from left to right: Pandurang Taware, President and MD, Agri Tourism Development Company Pvt. Ltd.; Abhijit Patil, Chairman, Raja Rani Travels; Satish Soni, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC); Murari Mohan Jha, Editor, T3; Pawan Jain,-Deputy Director, Rajasthan Tourism; and Yusuf Poonawala,-Vice President ’ Bharat Dekho Duniya Dekho & Inbound, Cox & King.
The Author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.
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