Guest of Honour
SUMAN BILLA
Tourism policies and procedures are undergoing continuous change. Speaking about the induction of single-window clearance for group visa in the new tourism policy, Guest of Honour,
Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, says, “We are still in talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs because even though we have e-Visa, it does not apply to conferences. Firstly, we want to electronically upgrade the conference visa, secondly, we want to initiate group clearance for conferences.” “We want to harness the growth of the MICE industry. We want to set up convention promotion bureaus at various destinations and at state levels. We also want the ICPB board to become the mother body,” concludes Billa, while speaking about the potential of the MICE industry and how it can be made competitive.