CITI to spur investments
The first edition of CITI-2013 brought together over 50 investors and a high-profile delegation comprising 15 members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) along with five participating states…
The
Conclave on Investments in Tourism Infrastructure 2013 (CITI) is another pathbreaking initiative started by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which already have two established platforms to promote tourism in India, namely Great India Travel Bazaar (GITB) and Great Domestic Tourism Bazaar
(GDTB). However, the objective of this initiative is to bring together states armed with various projects face-to-face with interested investors.
As per preliminary estimates, the first edition of FICCI's Conclave on Investments in Tourism Infrastructure 2013 brought together over 50 investors and a high profile delegation comprising 15 members of AAHOA along with five participating states, which had come together for brainstorming and B2B interactions between interested parties to explore potential investment possibilities.
Amitabh Kant, CEO and MD, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation sets the stage at the inauguration of the event by highlighting that there are 1 billion international tourists. “The multiplier effect of travel and tourism far surpasses any other sector. Worldwide, tourism creates 450 million jobs annually as against about 50 million by the software sector. India needs to focus on six- Cs,
namely civil aviation development, civic governance, capacity building, constant communication strategy, convergence with other sectors and community participation, other than creating a belief that if India gets more tourists, it would generate more jobs,” said Kant.
Giving government’s perspective on tourism, Usha Sharma, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in her address, pointed out that the Government’s target of attracting 1 per cent of the world tourist arrivals by the end of the 12th Five-Year-Plan Period from the 2011 level of 0.6 per cent would require about 2 lakh additional rooms in the 3-star or higher category classified hotels located outside cities with a population of over 1 million.
“Our ministry has identified 54 mega destinations and circuits of national importance and is in the process of identifying more such projects at culturally and historically important sites. The ministry
also provides central financial assistance for the development of mega projects and ensures convergence of resources and programmes of the ministries to ensure that tourism-related and urban civic infrastructure complement each other.
The inaugural panel also included Amit Mitra, Finance Minister of West Bengal, Alkesh Patel, Chairman, Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), Arbind Prasad, Director General, FICCI, released FICCI’s Knowledge Paper entitled, ‘Investment in Tourism Infrastructure: Opportunities & Challenges’.