Tourism on global economic agenda
During his official trip to FITUR in Spain, K Chiranjeevi, Hon. Minister for Tourism met with Taleb Rifai, Secretary General, UNWTO and emphasised on a proactive approach to make tourism a global economic and political agenda.
The Ministry of Tourism has been in top gear in terms of tourism promotion under the leadership of the new Tourism Minister. Lately, Chiranjeevi has conducted several meetings with the stalwarts of the industry including representatives of the Government and UNWTO during the course of his official trip to Spain.
Chiranjeevi met Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of UNWTO on February 1, 2013 in Madrid, where both the leaders deliberated on diverse issues relating to the tourism cooperation between India and the world. During the talks, the Secretary General and the Indian Tourism Minister emphasised for a proactive approach to make tourism as global polit- ical and economic agenda. Chiranjeevi also informed Secretary General about the efforts taken by the Indian Government towards easing the visa regime in India.
In fact, the bilateral discussions with Jose Manuel Soria Lopez, Minister for Industry, Tourism & Trade, Spain led to both countries agreeing to set up an Indo-- Spain Tourism Promotion Forum for building a dialogue between the stakeholders of tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India and Spain.
Chiranjeevi had also met with Artur Mas, President of Catalonia province of Spain in Barcelona, which serves as a hub of Spanish Tourism and receives about 23 million tourists every year. As part of engaging the Indian market, Catalonia Tourist Board plans to organise familiarisation trips for the media and trade in May this year. The Catalonia Tourist Board will also launch its online training and certification programme for the Indian travel and tourism agents.